Altice completes Dutch move

Cable and telecom investor Altice has completed the restructuring that will see the business based in Amsterdam rather than Luxembourg, a move that is seen as consolidating Patrick Drahi’s control over the company while giving it greater room for manoeuvre to make acquisitions.

The ‘old’ Altice has been acquired by a new entity established in Amsterdam as of yesterday.

Under the new structure, Altice will distribute two types of shares, with a single voting right associated with each A-class share, with a nominal value of €0.01, and 25 voting rights associated with B-class shares, which have a nominal value of €0.25.

The structure, enabled under Dutch law, is seen as enabling Drahi to make acquisitions that could be paid for partly in shares without diluting his control of the company significantly.

Altice has made a series of large acquisitions, beginning with French telco SFR and following up with Portugal Telecom and US cable operator Suddenlink, financed through raising debt at a time of exceptionally low interest rates and a positive view of cable from investors.