Telecoms holding group Altice has set up a joint venture with French media company NextRadioTV aimed at investing in and accelerating the development of multimedia projects in France and abroad.
The new entity will be 51%-owned by Alan Weill,…
Telecoms holding group Altice has set up a joint venture with French media company NextRadioTV aimed at investing in and accelerating the development of multimedia projects in France and abroad.
The new entity will be 51%-owned by Alan Weill, NextRadioTV’s founder, chairman, CEO and main shareholder, who will become the JV’s executive chairman, the companies said in a joint statement.
Weill’s stake in NextRadioTV, which consists of 37.77% of the economic rights and 48.59% of the voting rights, will initially be transferred to the newco.
The new venture will be mainly financed by Altice with a capital increase and convertible bonds. Weill will also provide part of the funding through a smaller capital hike.
Altice will also have a call option on Weill’s shares, which it could exercise from March 2019.
At a later stage, the new entity will launch a tender offer for 100% of NextRadioTV’s share capital at a price of €37 euros per share, representing a 30.5% premium on the target’s average share price over the past six months.
The companies will file the offer with the French markets regulator after presenting the deal to the relevant regulatory authorities. The transaction is expected to close by year-end.
NextRadioTV’s board unanimously approved the deal and intends to recommend the tender offer following the review by an independent expert, the companies said.
As part of the plan, Weill will ultimately become a 24% shareholder in an Altice unit dedicated to investments in media companies, with an on-going focus on international diversification outside of France. He will also be appointed as Altice Media’s managing director.
Commenting on the agreement, Altice CEO Dexter Goei said: “Media and content are a major growth opportunity for Altice in France and in all of the countries where we are present. The convergence of our telecom assets with digital distribution, channels, content development and content production are core to our long-term strategy. “
Altice chairman and founder, Patrick Drahi added: “This will allow us to offer the best content to our customers who already benefit from the best fibre-based fixed networks and 4G+ mobile networks. This partnership with NextRadioTV and Alain Weill represents a major step in our strategy.”
Luxembourg-based Altice recently announced plans to to change its structure to transform its shares into a more powerful equity acquisition currency.
Under the proposal, the acquisitive telecoms investor will merge into a new Amsterdam-based entity, Altice NV, through a new dual-class share structure. Drahi will retain majority control of the company.
