By Stuart Thomson
Altice USA has decided against a sale of its Suddenlink unit.
“Over the course of the past several months, the Company has been considering options for, including the potential sale of, its Suddenlink business. Following this evaluation, the Board of Directors has unanimously determined that continuing to operate Suddenlink and pursuing the Company’s long-term business plan represents the best path forward for Altice USA and its stockholders,” the company said in a brief statement.
Reports that Altice USA was looking to sell the cable operator first emerged in July], when Bloomberg reported that the company was working with Goldman Sachs and has begun putting feelers out to potential buyers.
Bloomberg’s report said that a sale could bring Altice USA as much as US$20 billion, which could help alleviate its debt. The company bought Suddenlink for US$9.1 billion in 2015.
However, in August Altice USA took the decision to rebrand Suddenlink under the Optimum brand it also owns, bringing the company’s telecommunications products and services under one unified brand across its entire footprint.
Altice USA said that the company would transition Suddenlink properties and assets to Optimum, including vehicles, stores, websites and uniforms.
Acquired only a few years ago at the height of Altice’s expansion drive, Suddenlink is one of the two major cable operators owned by Altice USA alongside Optimum.
Suddenlink operates networks mostly in the southern and central part of the US, while Optimum is active in the New York area.
