Altice Europe N.V. has announced that its subsidiary Altice France has entered into an exclusivity agreement with Allianz Capital Partners (ACP), AXA Investment Managers - Real Assets, acting on behalf of its clients, and OMERS Infrastructure regarding the sale of a minority equity stake of 49.99% in SFR FTTH for a total cash consideration of EUR1.8 billion (US$2.05 billion) based on a EUR3.6 billion (US$4.10 billion) equity value.

SFR FTTH is the largest alternative FTTH infrastructure wholesale operator in France, soon to supply five million homes (including one million homes built by year-end), with more to be franchised or acquired. 

SFR FTTH will sell wholesale services to all operators at the same terms and conditions including SFR as customer with no minimum volume commitments. Altice France will sell technical services to SFR FTTH for the construction, the subscriber connection and the maintenance of its FTTH network.

SFR FTTH will deploy fibre massively in the next 4 years, at least 1 million homes passed per year which will provide growth for SFR in France. In total, SFR will cover more than 15 million homes in France and intend to expand further its network.

The transaction is expected to close in H1 2019.

Lazard acted as sole financial advisor to Altice Europe. Franklin, Mayer Brown and Ropes & Gray acted as legal advisor to Altice Europe.