France’s Altice Group Has Aggressive Plan for Cablevision

Patrick Drahi, founder of Netherlands-based cable and telecommunication provider Altice Group, surprised the TV business on Sept 17 by unveiling a rich $17.7 billion acquisition agreement with Cablevision. His strategy is to turn his company into an essential household utility by offering consumers a “quad play” of one-stop shopping for video, broadband, wireless telecom and land-line telephone services. Altice’s play, which would turn it into the fourth-largest US cable operator, is a clear signal that Drahi aims to extend his vision across the Atlantic. And that means he’s probably just getting started shopping for US media assets.

Hollywood is paying attention, especially because of Altice’s reputation for driving hard bargains in programming deals. In announcing the Cablevision pact, Altice promised to squeeze $900 million in savings out of the company. “This can only accelerate consolidation among the programmers,” MoffettNathanson analyst Craig Moffett wrote. “It is reasonable to guess that Altice will be a very aggressive negotiator, and will be willing to drop networks if necessary … in order to preserve margins.”