Altice has confirmed plans for an initial public offering of shares in its US subsidiary, Altice USA. While the number of shares to be offered and the price range have not yet been determined, Altice USA said in a SEC filing that it would offer new Class A shares and other shareholders would also sell stock. For the purposes of the filing, an amount of USD 100 million in proceeds was mentioned.
The Class A shares carry one voting right each, as opposed to the company's Class B shares each have 25 voting rights. This suggests that Altice's controlling shareholders will retain majority control of the US subsidiary. The listing is expected to offer the American subsidiary a new way to finance its operations and to refinance some of the debt taken out in the company's creation.
Altice USA comprises the cable operator Suddenlink, which Altice acquired 70 percent in for USD 9.1 billion at the end of 2015, as well as Cablevision, which was bought at an enterprise value of USD 17.7 billion at the end of 2016. Private equity companies still hold minority shares in the operators. At the end of 2016, Altice said it was considering an IPO for the US operations.
The two operators were merged to form Altice USA, and the company has accelerated investment in their networks and announced plans to upgrade to FTTP. Together their networks pass over 8.4 million homes and they count some 4.5 million customers, making Altice the fourth-largest cable operator in the US.
