Cablevision (CVC) Stock Soars on $17.7 Billion Altice Deal

Cablevision Systems Corp., the Bethpage-based cable and internet provider, was acquired by European telecom company Altice Group Wednesday for $17.7B.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Altice agreed to buy Cablevision for around $10 billion. The company also will gain control of Newsday, a 400,000-circulation Long Island newspaper, and the seven regional Channel 12 cable news networks, according to the New York Post.

For Altice, the expansion in the USA is not the end.

The European and USA groups have entered a “definitive agreement” for the deal, creating the fourth largest cable operation in the US market, Altice said in a statement. It announced a $9.1 billion deal for Suddenlink, a smaller cable company based in St. Louis, in May.

Early this month Wunderlich Securities Matthew Harrigan said that Cablevision “could be a very appealing asset” for Altice given its presence in New York, and ambitious plans to spread public WiFi services through the region. In May, Charter Communications agreed to pay $55 billion to buy Time Warner Cable after Comcast’s bid to buy TWC was rejected by federal regulators. The deal is subject to regulatory approval, but has already been approved by the majority of CVC shareholders.

The company is controlled by the Dolan family.

Cablevision is the leading player in the New York metropolitan area, with networks covering New York City, New Jersey and Connecticut, a zone of high population density but one that is intensely competitive.

AT&T Inc became the largest United States pay-TV company in July after it completed its $48.5 billion merger with the biggest satellite-TV provider DirecTV. Suddenlink had been previously attached to Time Warner Cable as a suitor.

“We believe that Patrick Drahi and Altice will be truly worthy successors, and we look forward to doing all we can to affect this transition for our customers and employees”, Mr. Dolan said.

Altice said that Cablevision will benefit from “additional worldwide operational expertise, enhanced scale and further investment support that are at the core of the Altice business model and strategy”.