Altice (company)

Altice Europe N.V. (commonly known as Altice) is a French multinational telecommunications and mass media company with official headquarters in the Netherlands, founded and headed by the French-Israeli billionaire businessman Patrick Drahi, and the second largest telecoms company in France, behind Orange.

This article is about the company in Europe, Israel, and the Caribbean. For the former USA subsidiary that is now independent, see Altice USA.

Altice Europe N.V.
TypePrivate
IndustryTelecommunications
Mass media
Founded2001 (2001)
FounderPatrick Drahi
Headquarters
Woerden, Netherlands
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Patrick Drahi
(Chairman)
Alain Weill
(CEO)
ProductsCable television, Direct-broadcast satellite, broadcasting, broadband and telephony services, mass media
Revenue€2.54 billion (2017)
€2.845 billion (2017)
€179.3 million (2017)
Total assets€88.39 million (2017)
Total equity€30.00 million (2017)
OwnerPatrick Drahi (controlling shareholder)
Number of employees
47,143 (2018)
DivisionsAltice Média
SubsidiariesAltice Dominicana
Altice France
Altice Portugal
Hot
Websitewww.altice.net

It had a market capitalization of €13.7 billion in December 2017, and a market cap of less than €6 billion in June 2019, a 56% decline for the stock since Drahi financed the business with debt.[1][2] In 2016, the company had over 50 million internet, TV, and phone customers in Western Europe, Israel, the United States (where it formerly operated) and the Caribbean.[3] Altice formerly owned a subsidiary in the USA until that company, while retaining the Altice name, was spun off through an IPO in June 2019, making the former USA division independent from the rest of Altice but retaining the same chairman, Patrick Drahi, and the same logo.[4]

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.[5][6][7][8]

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.[9]

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.[9] It was instead acquired by Charter Communications.[10]

In June 2015 Altice acquired Portugal Telecom and sold Cabovisão to Apax France.[11]

In June 2015, it was reported that Altice had offered €10 billion for Bouygues Telecom, the third largest telecoms company in France.[12] Bouygues' board refused and as of March 2016, is considering merging with Orange.[13]

On 17 September 2015, it was announced that Altice would acquire Cablevision, a Bethpage, Long Island based cable provider for US$17.7 billion, including debt.[10][14]

In October 2015, it was announced that backing the Altice purchase of Cablevision, were private equity firm BC Partners and CPPIB.[15]

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.[16] The company filed for IPO in July 2021.[17]

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.[18][19]

Altice split from Altice USA in 2018.[20]

In September 2020, Drahi put on an offer of €2.5 billion to buy minority shareholders of Altice Europe and secure control of the company.[21] An increased bid was accepted in January 2021,[22] and the company delisted from the Euronext stock exchange.[23][24]

In June 2021, Altice acquired 12% of BT.[25]

In December 2021, Altice acquired a further 6% stake in BT taking the total ownership to 18%.[26]

Criticism

Involvement in Israeli settlements
See also: List of companies operating in West Bank settlements

On 12 February 2020, the United Nations published a database of all business enterprises involved in certain specified activities related to the Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Golan Heights.[27][28] Altice has been listed on the database in light of its involvement in activities related to "the provision of services and utilities supporting the maintenance and existence of settlements".[27][28] The international community considers Israeli settlements built on land occupied by Israel to be in violation of international law.[29][30][31]

On 5 July 2021, Norway's largest pension fund KLP said it would divest from Altice together with 15 other business entities implicated in the UN report for their links to Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.[32]

See also

References
  1. Laurent, Lionel (5 December 2017). "Cable Billionaire Stays In His $59 Billion Comfort Zone". Bloomberg. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  2. "Altice shares drop down to new lows". Reuters. 30 November 2017. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  3. Lieberman, David (22 June 2017). "Altice USA Shares Rise As It Goes Public On Anniversary Of Cablevision Deal".
  4. Alpert, Bill (26 May 2019). "Altice's U.S. Spinoff Looks Like a Winning Bet". Barron's. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
  5. Yoshai, Michal (15 November 2009). "Drahi nears HOT control - Globes". Globes (in Hebrew). Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  6. "Patrick Drahi completes HOT takeover - Globes". en.globes.co.il (in Hebrew). 29 November 2011. Retrieved 3 July 2019.
  7. "Drahi ups HOT offer to purchase - Globes". en.globes.co.il (in Hebrew). 3 October 2012. Retrieved 3 July 2019.
  8. "Drahi, le patron de Numericable, a testé en Israël sa stratégie pour SFR". Challenges (in French). Retrieved 3 July 2019.
  9. Smith, Gerry (20 May 2015). "Time Warner Cable Said to Get Takeover Approach From Altice". Bloomberg. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
  10. "Altice to Buy Cablevision for $10 Billion". Wall Street Journal. 17 September 2015. Retrieved 17 September 2015.
  11. "Altice finalises acquisition of Portugal Telecom". Agence France-Presse and Business Insider. 2 June 2015. Retrieved 1 August 2015.
  12. Davidson, Lauren (21 June 2015). "Patrick Drahi eyes Bouygues Telecom for French merger". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
  13. "March is 'go or no go' for Bouygues merger decision: Orange". cnbc.com. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
  14. Ackman, Dan (17 September 2015). "European cable firm Altice to buy Cablevision for $17.7 billion". CNET. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
  15. "CPPIB and BC Partners Back Altice's Bid for Cablevision". Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute. 28 October 2015. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  16. "Video ad tech firm Teads to be acquired by Dutch telco Altice for $307 million". Business Insider. Retrieved 21 March 2017.
  17. Bruell, Alexandra (6 July 2021). "Altice's Ad-Tech Company Teads Files for IPO". Wall Street Journal.
  18. "Altice Unveils Unified Global Brand, Strategy". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
  19. "Altice Unveils New Global Brand, Logo". Multichannel News. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
  20. "Altice to split into separate US and European companies". Capacity Media. 9 January 2018. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
  21. Nic Fildes; Nikou Asgari (11 September 2020). "Drahi offers to take Altice Europe private in €2.5bn buyout". Financial Times. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  22. "Billionaire Drahi gets green light to take Altice Europe private - union". Reuters. 7 January 2021. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
  23. "ALTICE EUROPE N.V." live.euronext.com. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
  24. "ALTICE EUROPE N.V. B". live.euronext.com. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
  25. "France's second biggest telecoms firm buys 12% of BT". BBC. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
  26. "BT: Billionaire Patrick Drahi raises stake to 18%". BBC. Retrieved 14 December 2021.
  27. "UN rights office issues report on business activities related to settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory". Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. 12 February 2020. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  28. "Database of all business enterprises involved in certain activities relating to Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank (A/HRC/43/71)". ReliefWeb. 14 February 2020. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  29. "S/RES/2334(2016)". United Nations Security Council. 23 December 2016. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  30. "Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory" (PDF). International Court of Justice. 9 July 2004. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  31. "Conference of High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention". International Committee of the Red Cross. 5 December 2001. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  32. Fouche, Gwladys; Jessop, Simon (5 July 2021). "Nordic fund KLP excludes 16 companies over links to Israeli settlements in West Bank". Reuters. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
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