Luxembourg-based telecoms holding Altice has issued 17.9 million ordinary new shares via an accelerated bookbuilt offer, raising a total €911m (US$1.24bn).
Proceeds will be used to finance an earlier €529m cash payment to PE firms Carlyle and Cinven…
Luxembourg-based telecoms holding Altice has issued 17.9 million ordinary new shares via an accelerated bookbuilt offer, raising a total €911m (US$1.24bn).
Proceeds will be used to finance an earlier €529m cash payment to PE firms Carlyle and Cinven for their combined 14% stake in French cableco Numericable.
The leftover money will be spent on general corporate purposes and on reducing its net debt, which recently increased by €122m after Altice bought an extra 2.6% stake in Numericable from Pechel and Five Arrows. As a result, Altice now owns 40% of the cable operator.
Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs acted as joint bookrunners on the capital increase. Altice cannot issue ordinary shares for 90 days without the consent of the two banks.
The new shares are expected to be listed on the Euronext Amsterdam stock exchange on 27 June.
Altice is in the process of acquiring French mobile operator SFR from Vivendi for €13.5bn. If the transaction receives regulatory approval, SFR and Numericable are expected to be merged to create a large converged operator.
