Unbundled cable

10 May 2016 By Jennifer Saba, Jeffrey Goldfarb Follow @jennifersaba

Patrick Drahi’s telecom group told investors it can cut $900 mln in costs to justify the $18 bln U.S. cable acquisition. To appease New York officials worried about service, Altice is using a shorter timeframe to tout a $450 mln sum. Both constituencies will end up disappointed.

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The Federal Communications Commission on May 3 approved Altice’s acquisition of U.S. based Cablevision Systems in a deal valued at $18 billion.

New York City regulators are recommending the deal with conditions. The city will vote on May 11.

Altice still needs New York to approve the merger. The state’s Public Service Commission is set to issue a decision on May 20.

Cablevision on May 5 reported that first-quarter revenue increased 1.6 percent, to $1.6 billion, from a year ago. Net income was $94.4 million compared to $44.6 million in first quarter 2015.

It had 3.1 million customers for the period ending March 31.

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