Altice is set to target a number of mobile and cable operators in Europe after the completion of the company's IPO, which raised €1.3 billion ($1.8 billion) of which €750 million from new shares.
"There are opportunities in each one of our markets," CEO Dexter Goei told Bloomberg in Amsterdam, where the IPO took place. "We're effectively in nine different regions or countries, so we're looking at more than nine opportunities."
When he first announced details of the IPO, Goei told reporters that Altice is open to acquisition opportunities in all of its markets and would focus on consolidating its existing assets. He added that SFR or Bouygues Telecom were possible targets in France, while Altice is interested in mobile operators in Belgium and cable operators in Luxembourg.
In January it was reported that Vivendi is still considering a sale of its SFR telecoms unit to French cable provider Numericable, which is 40 per cent-owned by Altice.
The Altice listing valued the company founded by entrepreneur Patrick Drahi at €5.7 billion, Reuters reported. The company has gradually built up its operations through a series of acquisitions over the past decade, the latest being in the Dominican Republic, including Orange Dominicana for $1.435 billion (€1.06 billion) and cable operator Tricom.
Now, the company has ambitions for further growth on a global scale, with a clear focus on cable as well as mobile operations.
In Europe, as well as its stake in Numericable, Altice also operates a number of units under its Altice VII holding. Altice VII groups together the company's fixed and mobile activities in Belgium, Luxembourg, Portugal, Israel, French Overseas Territories and the Dominican Republic, while also offering B2B services in Switzerland.
The company runs HOT Cable and HOT Mobile in Israel; offers TV, fixed-line and broadband services in Belgium and Luxembourg under the Numericable brand; sells mobile services in Belgium under Coditel, an MVNO operator on the Mobistar network; sells fixed-line, TV and broadband services under the Cabovisão brand in Portugal; sells fixed-line, TV and broadband services under the Numericable brand in French Overseas Territories, Guadeloupe and Martinique; and operates Orange Dominicana and Tricom in the Dominican Republic.
Like many operators in Europe, the company is interested in a strategy that would allow it to bundle cable TV, broadband and voice services with mobile services, as illustrated by its recent move in the Dominican Republic. So far it has focused on small markets where it can build a brand and develop service strategies.
For more:
- see this Bloomberg article
- see this Reuters article
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