Altice on Tuesday agreed to sell two of its Portuguese cable businesses, Cabovisao and ONI, to private equity firm Apax France.
The cable group offered to sell the assets in order to win European Commission approval of its €7.4 billion acquisition of Portugal Telecom from Oi. Brussels was concerned that merging Portugal Telecom with Cabovisao and ONI would distort competition in the fixed-line market.
Altice agreed to comply, prompting rumours that Vodafone was lining up a bid.
The U.K.-based telco giant was one of several companies said to have expressed interest in Cabovisao and its sister company, business services provider ONI. Acquiring the former would have improved Vodafone’s market share in the consumer fixed-line market, where Portugal Telecom enjoys a commanding lead.
"Altice’s investor relations has confirmed that the company took the highest offer for Cabovisao/ONI, and management does not think that the sale of these businesses to Apax will have any effect on the market structure," said Berenberg, in a research note.
"Altice knew that if Vodafone Portugal had bought Cabovisao at a low price, Vodafone would not have been obliged to raise prices following the acquisition," Berenberg said. "The implications for Altice would not, therefore, be positive."
Such a deal would not necessarily have guaranteed market repair, the analysts said.
Tuesday’s deal is subject to the appro val of the European Commission. Financial details were not disclosed.
