Reports indicate that Altice's interest in acquiring Charter Communications has run cold after the company spent much of the summer trying to crunch the numbers for such a deal. Altice has made no secret of its desire to grow larger after acquiring both Cablevision (Optimum) and Suddenlink in recent years. But much like Sprint and Verizon, Altice may lack the financial resources or shareholder motivation to reach Charter's steep asking price. Verizon's offer of $100 billion was rejected over the summer, and few companies can afford the $180 billion or more Charter wants.
Altice had also been considering a joint bid with Sprint, but
CNBC notes that reports this week that Sprint was giving up on Charter and
returning its focus to acquiring T-Mobile has impacted Altice's planned trajectory.
"The urgency for Altice to put together a bid has diminished now that it appears Sprint is going in a different direction," notes the report. "That means a plan floated more than a month ago in which SoftBank would combine Charter and Sprint in a new company have been pushed aside. Faber said negotiations between T-Mobile and Sprint, which is controlled by SoftBank, are still weeks away from completion and the chances of reaching a deal aren't assured."
Altice is still interested in acquiring Charter, but the report indicates that the company has shifted its timeline, and is now thinking about an acquisition one or two years from now.
That's probably not a bad thing for Charter customers, who are still reeling from the higher prices, worse service, and frozen speed upgrades in the wake of Charter's acquisition of Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks. A year or two would give Charter a chance to digest its last deal before throwing the company's customers at yet another new owner.
