Altice USA set the expected price range of its highly anticipated initial public offering Monday, stating that it expects to issue about 46.6 million shares at between $27 and $31 each, which could raise $1.3 billion to $1.4 billion.
Altice USA, the U.S. arm of European telecom company Altice NV, announced its intention to file for an IPO in April. Altice USA is the fourth largest cable operator in the country, with about 4.6 million subscribers.
In a statement, Altice USA said that of the shares of Altice USA common stock included in the offering, 12.1 million would be offered by Altice USA, 20.9 million would be offered by BC Partners, and 13.6 million would be offered by entities affiliated with the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board ("CPPIB"). BC Partners and CPPIB expect to grant the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to 5.2 million Class A common shares.
With the over-allotment, the IPO could raise about $1.6 billion.
Altice added that it expects the stock will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “ATUS.”
J.P. Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC are acting as joint book-running managers for the proposed offering and representatives of the underwriters, together with BofA Merrill Lynch, Barclays, BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole CIB, Deutsche Bank Securities and RBC Capital Markets as additional joint bookrunning managers.
Altice USA’s IPO would be the second cable stock offering this year. Last month, Wide Open West launched its IPO at $17 per share, raising about $310 million, which was short of initial expectations.
Altice USA is expected to eventually use its new stock as a deal currency. The cable company has so far grown its U.S. business through acquisition – Suddenlink Communications in 2015 and Cablevision Systems in 2016 – but has said it will focus this year on organic growth. The company recently underwent a rebranding effort. While most analysts expect the U.S. operation to focus on its current assets for the time being, at the brand relaunch Altice N.V. chairman Patrick Drahi said the company would keep all of its options open.
