NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Altice USA, Inc. (NYSE: ATUS) announced today that it has commenced a modified “Dutch auction” tender offer to repurchase up to $2.5 billion of its Class A common stock at a price not greater than $36.00 per share nor less than $32.25 per share, less any applicable withholding taxes and without interest, upon the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in the Offer to Purchase and Letter of Transmittal that are being distributed to stockholders. If the Offer is fully subscribed, the number of shares to be purchased in the Offer represents approximately 19.6% to 21.9% of Altice USA’s issued and outstanding shares of Class A common stock (or approximately 12.8% to 14.3% of Altice USA’s total outstanding shares including both Class A and Class B common stock) as of November 19, 2020 depending on the purchase price payable for those shares pursuant to the Offer. The Offer represents a premium of approximately 0% to 12% to the NYSE closing price of the shares on November 20, 2020 of $32.27 per share.
With this Offer, Altice USA is increasing its buyback target for full year 2020 from ? $2.0 billion to approximately $5.0 billion. From October 1, 2020 to November 20, 2020, the Company repurchased 22,677,812 Class A shares pursuant to its share repurchase program at an average cost of $29.10 per share for approximately $660 million (a total amount of approximately $2.5 billion year-to-date). As a result of the Offer, the Company now expects its 2020 year-end net leverage for the CSC Holdings, LLC debt silo to be between 5.0x to 5.5x Adjusted EBITDA (on a L2QA basis). The Company expects to return to its net leverage target for CSC Holdings, LLC of 4.5x to 5.0x over time.
On November 20, 2020, the Altice USA Board of Directors increased the capacity under the Company’s existing share repurchase program from $5.0 billion to $7.0 billion in the aggregate of Class A shares to facilitate the Offer and any subsequent additional share repurchases (commencing at least ten business days following the expiration or termination of the Offer). As of November 23, 2020, the capacity under the Company’s upsized share repurchase program was approximately $4.3 billion, or approximately $1.8 billion after the assumed repurchase of $2.5 billion of Class A shares pursuant to the Offer.
About Altice USA
Altice USA is one of the largest broadband communications and video services providers in the United States, delivering broadband, video, mobile, proprietary content and advertising services to more than 5 million residential and business customers across 21 states through its Optimum and Suddenlink brands. The company operates a4, an advanced advertising and data business, which provides audience-based, multiscreen advertising solutions to local, regional and national businesses and advertising clients. Altice USA also offers hyper-local, national, international and business news through its News 12, Cheddar and i24NEWS networks.