Investment fund Altice has agreed to buy additional shares in French cable operator Numericable from private equity funds Cinven and Carlyle Group. This would increase its stake to 40 per cent from 30 per cent. The operation, which will give Altice a majority of votes on Numericable’s board of directors, is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2014.

The acquisition is subject to antitrust approval and a waiver granted by French financial market authority AMF to file a mandatory tender offer. Under French law, a shareholder would normally be required to launch a bid for all of a company’s shares after exceeding a 30 percent shareholding. Altice said that after the acquisition Numericable would continue to provide quarterly reports and public disclosure to its other shareholders.

Categories: Articles, Business, Cable, M&A