Altice appears to be targeting the US because consolidation has already hit the European market.
Altice agreed on Thursday to purchase Cablevision in a cash and assumed debt in a deal valued at $17.7 billion.
The deal, which is seen to encounter tough regulatory scrutiny, would make Altice’s operations the fourth biggest cable operator in the United States.
By bringing together Numericable and SFR in France, Altice set out to become the leading player in the convergence between broadband and mobile. However, for Altice, which is based in Amsterdam and entered the US cable market for the first time this past year, when it purchased Suddenlink Communications a cable operator in St. Louis, the deal for Cablevision is an opportunity to expand into the more lucrative market of the Northeast.
This deal pushes Altice to almost the top of the list as it continues its expansion into the Unites States, according to the New York Times.
Lowell McAdams, chairman and CEO of the New York-based wireless giant, discussed his company’s business strategy and financial prospects on CNBC.
Shares in Altice gained almost 7% in Amsterdam in early trade Thursday.
The takeover is priced at US$34.90 for each Cablevision share, well above the closing price on Wednesday of US$28.54 a share.
The firm’s chief executive, James Dolan, added: “Since Charles Dolan founded Cablevision in 1973, the Dolan family has been honoured to help shepherd our customers and employees through the most extraordinary communications revolution in modern history”.
The company previously acquired a smaller operator, Suddenlink. That amounts to $9.6 billion in equity value.
For the Dolan family, we move forward with AMC Networks and The Madison Square Garden Company – two and, eventually, three public companies – all born of Cablevision and each with brighter prospects today than ever before.
The acquisition also includes the business services unit Lightpath, advertising sales division Cablevision Media Sales, the News 12 Networks, and the Newsday weekly and New York daily newspapers.