Altice to explore separate listing of US division

Cable and telecom group Altice is to explore listing its US division Altice USA separately.

Altice emphasised that it was “exploring the possibility” of an IPO of a minority stake in its US operation, and that no decision had been taken on the structure and timing of any such move.

Altice has built a significant US operation based on its acquisition of cable operators Suddenlink, Optimum and Cablevision. Altice USA ranks as the number four US MSO with a subscriber base of about 4.6 million across 20 states.

Altice recently said that it would build a next-generation fibre-to-the-home network capable of delivering speeds of up to 10Gbps across its footprint, leapfrogging the DOCSIS 3.1 technology being adopted by cable operators such as Comcast.

The group said that Altice USA would extend fibre deeper into its existing hybrid fiber coax network and leverage proprietary technologies developed by Altice Labs, the company’s global research and development arm, to create its state-of-the-art system. The company’s five-year deployment schedule will begin in 2017, and the company expects to reach all of its

Optimum footprint and most of its Suddenlink footprint during that timeframe.