Altice may seek more US growth after Cablevision deal

Netherlands-based telecom company Altice may not be done seeking US growth through acquisitions, an Altice executive said, after the European group completed a $17.7 billion deal to buy Cablevision. It was the Dutch company's second multibillion-dollar US cable acquisition in less than a year. Altice now has 4.6 million US customers but is still only the fourth-biggest US cable provider, lagging operators including Comcast and Charter.

The US strategy is the latest push for Altice founder and controlling shareholder Patrick Drahi, a French-Israeli billionaire who built a telecom and cable empire via debt-fueled acquisitions in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Portugal and Israel. Altice said its immediate focus will be on integrating its newly acquired cable systems. Then it may look to expand. "We will continue to grow through acquisitions, either by buying more cable in other geographies in the country or by looking at other revenue streams," said Dexter Goei, chairman and chief executive of Altice USA. "There's a lot of large players and a lot of medium-size players such as ourselves who may look to partner up or do things," he said.