Billionaire Drahi’s Altice to Seek Bids Next Month for Key Assets
- Buyout firms circle Altice assets as tycoon grapples with debt
- Bids for Portugal unit, France stake seen as soon as December
Some suitors have pegged the value of the Portuguese business at about €7 billion including debt, though Altice is seeking a higher valuation.
Photographer: Zed Jameson/BloombergBillionaire Patrick Drahi’s Altice is preparing to receive initial bids for its Portuguese business and a stake in its French unit, as the tycoon grapples with his telecom empire’s debt load, people with knowledge of the matter said.
Altice has sent out information on the businesses to potential bidders and asked for first-round offers as soon as next month, the people said. The Portuguese unit, which runs the MEO carrier, is being studied by potential private equity suitors including Apax Partners, Apollo Global Management Inc., CVC Capital Partners and Warburg Pincus, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the process is private.