Altice announced plans to shift its holding company to the Netherlands from Luxembourg. The company's shares are already listed in Amsterdam, and Altice said the move will strengthen the value of its shares as currency for acquisitions.
The new company Altice NV will make an offer to acquire the shares of Altice SA, which is assigned an enterprise value of EUR 61.9 billion and equity value of EUR 32.5 billion. This is an increase of 557 percent since the IPO of Altice in January 2014. Prior to the takeover, substantially all of the company's assets will be transferred to its Luxembourg subsidiary.
Shareholders of Altice will receive three common shares A with one voting right each and a nominal value of EUR 0.01 and one common share B with 25 voting rights each and a nominal value of EUR 0.25 in exchange for each share already held in Altice. Both A and B shares will have equal economic rights and will be listed on Euronext Amsterdam. Following the listing, shareholders in Altice NV can convert their B Shares into A Shares at a 1:1 ratio.
The boards of directors of both Altice NV and Altice have approved and unanimously recommend the merger. Both the asset transfer and merger still require approval by shareholders, with an extraordinary meeting to be held the first week of July. Holders of 64.6 percent of Altice's shares have already approved the deal. At least half of Altice's share capital will need to be present at the EGM, and two-thirds of these shareholders approve the deal for the transaction to go ahead. Altice aims to complete the deal in the first half of August.
