Altice reportedly mulling part sale of SFR as it looks to reduce debt

Troubled telecom and cable giant Altice is close to a sale of its data centre unit and may make further disposals including the hitherto ruled-out sale of part of French telco SFR, according to multiple reports.

According to Reuters, Altice has called in a number of investment banks including Lazard, BNP Paribas, Morgan Stanley and Goldbam Sachs to review its assets, including SFR.

Altice International units including the scandal-hit Portuguese operation and Altice’s business in the Domnican Republic will also be reviewed, according to the report.

Le Monde meanwhile reports that Lazard has been placed in charge of the review, with the support of BNP Paribas. According to the paper, citing investors gathered at a presentation in London this week, Altice boss Patrick Drahi has said that the group had “many options” for SFR, which was perceived as akin to the Eiffel Tower of telcos in terms of brand, network, organisation and quality.

SFR, acquired by Altice almost a decade ago, is the number two operator in Frande behind Orange. However Altice France carries debt to the tune of €23.8 billion out of a total group debt of about €60 billion.

Altice is meanwhile reportedly close to agreeing the sale of 92 data centres in France and is discussion with Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners, according to financial daily Les Echos. However the €1 billion or so that this would raise would only have a marginal impact on Altice’s debt pile.

SFR saw telecom revenue decline by 2.5% in the second quarter and total revenue declined by 2.6% to €2.789 billion.

Telecom EBITDA fell by 5.4% and total EBITDA fell by 5.7% to €1.084 billion.

At the end of June the company had 33.9 million addressable fibre homes (via FTTH or FTTB), up 1.2 million homes from Q1.

At Altice’s debt investor call last month, analysts were told that choices on the table included the sale of the company’s data centres – the most advanced option – and other options which may be pursued in parallel,

Speaking on the separate Altice International call a day earlier, Drahi expressed his “shock” and “huge disappointment” following the Portuguese police probe into Armando Pereira and other individuals linked to the company – a scandal that has rocked Altice.