European telecom giant Altice NV is reportedly weighing an offer to buy U.S. cable company Charter Communications in a bid to expand its stateside reach.
According to Reuters, Altice would pay a steep price, as Charter is currently worth more than $180 billion with its debt taken into account.
The report comes on the heels of Altice founder Patrick Drahi’s comments in May that cable expansion was at the top of his to-do list. It also follows Altice USA’s – the company’s U.S. branch – initial public offering in June, which raised around $2.15 billion.
Altice particular is no stranger to acquisitions. Altice USA became the fourth-largest stateside cable operator following its 2015 acquisition of Suddenlink for $9.1 billion and subsequent takeover of Cablevision for $17.7 billion last year. Parent Company Altice NV also recently announced its purchase of Portuguese media group Media Capital.
But Altice NV and its U.S. branch aren’t the only ones sniffing around Charter.
Recent reports from Bloomberg indicate SoftBank is also eyeing a deal with Charter. Verizon has also expressed interest, with the New York Post reporting Charter turned down an offer from the carrier because it was too low and the operator is not yet ready to sell.
MoffettNathanson analysts sought to throw some cold water on all the speculation, though, noting “none of the proposed suitors – Verizon, SoftBank, Altice – have the balance sheet to acquire Charter.” The firm also shot down the thought of a Comcast-Charter hookup, which might seem plausible to some given the pair’s recent collaboration on wireless.
“While we’re at it, let’s dismiss as well the nonsense about Comcast and Charter merging. A merged Charcast (Comster?) would be a regulatory monstrosity, inviting all manner of utility-like interventions to restrain its enormous market power in media distribution and in broadband (and that, of course, would only be if it got past the front door of the DOJ… which it probably wouldn’t),” MoffettNathanson analysts observes. “Comcast has seen that movie before. Thanks but no thanks.”
