Altice USA looks to raise $1.35bn in IPO

Cable and telecoms group Altice aims to raise some US$1.35 billion by listing its US business on the New York Stock Exchange.

In a statement, Altice said it had launched an initial public offering (IPO) of 46.55 million shares, which it expects to price at between US$27 and US$31 per share.

This would value the IPO at between US$1.26 billion and US$1.44 billion – with a mid-point of US$1.35 billion.

Altice would recoup roughly a quarter of this by offering some 12.1 million shares, with funds advised by BC Partners and entities affiliated with the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board offering the rest.

Reuters reported that the offering would value Altice USA at between US$20 and US$22 billion and could help Altice founder Patrick Drahi to expand the US business through more acquisitions.

Altice USA offers broadband, pay TV and telephony services to an estimated 4.9 million residential and business customers in the US via brands like Suddenlink, Optimum and Lightpass.

Altice first filed its planned US IPO registration with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in April, but at the time the number of shares to be offered and the price range for the offering were yet to be determined.

News of the terms of the IPO came in the same week that Altice agreed a multi-year partnership with Netflix to make the SVOD giant’s content available to its customers in France, Portugal, Israel and the Dominican Republic.

Altice’s first original series, Riviera (pictured), which it is coproducing with Sky and other partners, is launching in Europe this week.