Altice, a multinational cable and telecommunications company with presence in France, Israel, Belgium & Luxembourg, Portugal, French West Indies/ Indian Ocean Area and Dominican Republic and Switzerland, last week announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire 70% of the share capital in Suddenlink, the 7th largest US cable operator with 1.5 million residential and 90,000 business customers from existing shareholders BC Partners, CPP Investment Board and Suddenlink management. With this acquisition, the Altice Group enters the large and attractive US cable market and takes a further step in diversifying and balancing its portfolio of high-quality businesses.
With operations primarily focused in Texas, West Virginia, Louisiana, Arkansas and Arizona, Suddenlink is present in attractive growth markets for both residential and business services. In 2014, Suddenlink generated $2.3 billion in revenue and over $900 million in EBITDA with a balanced revenue mix between residential video, broadband, telephony and business services, said the company.
Dexter Goei, CEO, Altice
Our investment in Suddenlink, our first in the cable sector in the US, opens an attractive industrial and strategic avenue for Altice in the US, one of the largest and fastest growing communications markets in the world. We are looking forward to our partnership with BC Partners and CPP Investment Board and believe Suddenlink is a best-in-class business that should be able to deliver profitability and cash flow levels in line with best-in-class European cable businesses.
