New York state regulators have postponed today's scheduled vote on Altice's proposed $17.7 billion purchase of Cablevision to June 16.
According to published reports, both Altice and Cablevision (NYSE: CVC) agreed to the delay of the vote, which is the last regulatory hurdle for the deal.
Officials for the New York Public Service Commission (PSC) have been in talks with Altice for months, seeking for forge conditions on such things as workforce reductions. Altice promised its investors $900 million in cost reductions at Cablevision in the first three years after the deal.
Given Altice's debt and cash flow situations, those close to the company say the only way the Cablevision deal makes sense is if it can adjust the company to the kind of lean, efficient operational standards of its other European assets.
In a filing issued today by the New York PSC, the agency said it plans to issue proposals on conditions relating to "network build-out, speed upgrades, a low-income broadband program, network resiliency, customer service and job protections."
Altice said in a response that it still expects the deal to close in the second quarter.
For more:
- read this New York Public Service Commission notice
- read this Bloomberg story
- read this New York Post story
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