Altice announces new debt and shares for Cablevision purchase

Cable and telecom investor Altice has successfully raised US$8.6 billion (€7.6 billion) in new debt and has announced a 10% capital increase to finance its acquisition of US cable operator Cablevision.

The debt comprises a seven-year senior secured term loan to the tune of US$3.8 billion, 10-year senior guaranteed notes to the amount of US$1 billion and US$3.8 billion in seven and 10-year senior unsecured notes.

Altice said that the Cablevision financing package had an average cost of 7.6% and an average term of 7.9 years. It said that the total debt financing for Cablevision amounted to US$14.5 billion, including existing retained debt of US$5.9 billion. Cablevision has also secured a five-year US$2 billion revolving facility, which Altice said helped ensure that the company had “ample room” to meet its liquidity needs.

Altice has also said it was launching a 10% capital increase to the tune of €1.8 billion by issuing up to 69,997,600 A shares and 24,832,500 B shares. Altice managers have committed to subscribe to the new shares for an aggregate amount of at least €150 million. The price of the new shares will be agreed by JP Morgan Securities and Altice at the close of the placing. JP Morgan Securities is acting as the sole global coordinator and bookrunner.

The latest announcements come after the price of Altice shares dropped significantly on concerns about the company’s level of indebtedness, fuelled by overall market volatility and economic uncertainty.