Patrick Drahi: Last News

Telecoms tycoon Patrick Drahi told an earnings call for Altice France on Tuesday his main priority for the subsidiary was to reduce its $26 billion debt but the sale of its media assets – comprising the BFM TV and RMC TV and radio networks – was not on the cards.

The Alice Group has sold its media arm, which includes the BFM and RMC TV channels, to French Lebanese billionaire Rodolphe Saadé in a deal valued at $1.68B (€1.55B).

Israeli-French telecoms and media mogul Patrick Drahi took the unusual step of directly addressing investors and analysts at a quarterly results call for Altice International on Monday in a bid to calm jitters over a corruption probe shaking its Portuguese subsidiary.

Altice USA and co-CEO of Altice Group, suspended himself from all executive and non-executive duties at the company after a corruption probe launched by authorities in Portugal. Fonseca’s stepping back from his duties comes after Armando Pereira — co-founder of Altice Group, Patrick Drahi’s leading cable and telecom company — spent the weekend in custody as part of an investigation into suspected corruption, fiscal fraud and money laundering, according to French reports. Fonseca is also targeted in the investigation, per Le Figaro newspaper. Altice Portugal confirmed on July 13 it was one of the companies searched by the Portuguese authorities in compliance with a warrant issued by the Public Prosecutor’s Office as part of an ongoing investigation directed against individuals as well as entities outside Altice Group. “Altice Portugal is providing all the cooperation requested and will always be available for any clarification,” the company said.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Altice USA is making changes at the top: The cable operator announced that it has recruited Comcast veteran Dennis Mathew as CEO. Matthew takes over effective Oct. 3, assuming the CEO role from Dexter Goei, who has been named executive chairman of the board of directors. All of Goei’s direct reports will report to Mathew. Altice USA founder and current chairman Patrick Drahi will remain a director on the board. The No. 4 U.S. cable operator said it made the move to hire a new CEO “given Mr. Goei’s intention to return to Europe with his family.” Goei has worked for France’s Altice since 2009, leading the telecom company’s entry into the U.S. market through the acquisitions of Cablevision Systems and Suddenlink Communications, which now comprise Altice USA.

Cynthia Littleton Business EditorDigital entrepreneur Jon Steinberg is exiting the streaming business news service that he founded in 2016 and sold to cable operator Altice USA three years later.On Tuesday, Altice promoted Keith Bowen to president of Altice News and Advertising. He’ll succeed Steinberg in leading the cable operator’s in-house News 12 hyper-local news operation serving parts of Long Island, as well as Cheddar News, the i24News international news service that Altice launched in 2017 and Altice’s A4 advanced advertising data operation.

The new owner is known to be a ruthless cost-cutter, with the chief executive officer and several administration heads among the first to go