Altice Sells Lightpath Stake to Morgan Stanley for $2.3 Billion

(Bloomberg) -- Broadband provider Altice USA Inc. agreed to sell nearly half its Lightpath fiber business to Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners for about $2.3 billion.

Altice expects to receive about $1.1 billion in net cash after taxes and debt repayment from the deal, which values the operation at $3.2 billion. Altice will maintain control of the business with a 50.01% stake, the companies said in a statement Tuesday.

The transaction is meant to help Altice focus on its core business while bringing in fresh capital for Lightpath, which sells fiber-optic services to companies in the New York City area. More than 11,400 buildings are connected to Lightpath’s fiber network.

Shares of Altice jumped as much as 2% in late trading after the deal was announced. They had been down 11% this year.

Altice, which was spun off from Patrick Drahi’s Altice NV in 2018, previously discussing selling a Lightpath stake to Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners, Bloomberg reported last year.

The Morgan Stanley transaction is slated to close in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. served as financial adviser to Altice, while Shearman & Sterling LLP, Mayer Brown LLP and Ropes & Gray LLP offered legal counsel. Evercore was the financial adviser for Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners, with Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP providing legal help.

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