Altice Europe N.V. is a French multinational telecommunications corporation. multinational telecoms and mass media company, founded and headed by the French-Israeli billionaire Patrick Drahi, and the second largest telecoms company in France, behind Orange. It has a market capitalization of €13.7 billion, as of December 2017 and a market cap of less than €6 billion as of June 29, 2019 tracking an 80% decline for the stock since Drahi financed the deal with debt. As of 2016, the company has over 50 million internet, TV, and phone customers in Western Europe, Israel, and the Caribbean. Altice formerly owned a subsidiary in the USA until that company, while retaining the Altice name, was spun off via an IPO in June 2019, making the former USA division independent from the rest of Altice but still has the same Chairman Patrick Drahi and the same logo as of 2020.
History
Altice bought several regional cable television operators in France from 2002 to 2007, merging them under the brand Numericable. In 2009, Patrick Drahi increased his stake in Hot, a cable television operator in Israel. Drahi completed the takeover in 2011, and offered to buy the remaining shares in 2012. In November 2013, Orange announced it was selling Orange Dominicana to Altice for $1.4 billion. In March 2014, it acquired SFR, France's second largest mobile phone and Internet services company, from Vivendi. In November 2014, France's competition watchdog approved a deal for Numericable to acquire Virgin Mobile France for €325 million. In May 2015, Altice acquired a 70% controlling stake in Suddenlink Communications, which valued the seventh-largest US cable company at US$9.1 billion. The other 30% continues to be owned by BC Partners and CPP Investment Board. In May 2015, Altice was said to be launching a bid for Time Warner Cable, which has a US$45 billion market capitalization, following a failed bid by Comcast. It was instead acquired by Charter Communications. In June 2015 Altice acquired Portugal Telecom and sold Cabovisão to Apax France. In June 2015, it was reported that Altice had offered €10 billion for Bouygues Telecom, the third largest telecoms company in France. Bouygues' board refused and as of March 2016, is considering merging with Orange. On 17 September 2015, it was announced that Altice would acquire Cablevision, a Long Island, New York based cable provider for US$17.7 billion, including debt. In October 2015, it was announced that backing the Altice purchase of Cablevision, were private equity firm BC Partners and CPPIB. In December 2016, Altice announced its deal to sell SFR Belux to Telenet for €400 million. In March 2017, Altice acquired video ad tech firm Teads for US$307 million. In May 2017, Altice and Altice USA unveiled a new logo and slogan, "Together Has No Limits," and announced that it would unify all of its telecom holdings under the singular Altice brand by mid-2018.
