Cablevision has agreed to sell itself to Altice, an acquisitive European telecommunications giant, for about $17.7 billion, including debt, people briefed on the matter said on Wednesday. It is the latest deal to reshape the broadband and cable television landscape. (NYT / DealBook)
Cablevision had a market value of about $7.9 billion based on its closing price Wednesday of $28.54 a share. The Times says Altice will offer $34.90 for each share—adding that BC Partners and the Canada Pension Plan Investment board might help finance it by acquiring 30 percent of Cablevision’s equity. (Deadline)
Cablevision, based in Bethpage, N.Y., advanced as much as 16 percent to $33.12 in extended trading on Wednesday. The shares were little changed in regular trading in New York. The company owns money-losing New York-area newspaper Newsday and TV station News 12, and Altice has committed to funding them, according to a person familiar with the matter. (Bloomberg)
Cablevision is the nation’s fourth-largest cable operator with 2.8 million subscribers, concentrated in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. The company has long been a pillar and pioneer of the cable business, founded in 1973 with 1,500 customers on Long Island. The company is controlled by the Dolan family, which has deep roots in the New York area with holdings that range from the New York Knicks and New York Rangers sports teams to Madison Square Garden to the AMC Networks cable group. (Variety)
Altice, run by billionaire investor Patrick Drahi, has become a prolific consolidator on both sides of the Atlantic. After completing a series of deals in Europe including the $23 billion takeover of France’s second-biggest wireless-phone operator SFR, Drahi in May opened a new frontier in the U.S. by inking a $9 billion deal to buy cable company Suddenlink Communications. (WSJ)