News

New York company buying Morris Broadband

By Lightning Reports, Published: March 10, 2021

Altice USA announced on March 1 that it had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the assets of Morris Broadband, the cable company that has served Henderson County for the past 12 years.

The transaction will expand Altice USA’s footprint in North Carolina, where it already has a presence with its Suddenlink business, and implies an enterprise value of $310 million total for the Morris Broadband business on a debt-free and cash-free basis. Following this acquisition, North Carolina will represent the sixth largest state for Altice USA out of 21 states in terms of number of residential customers.

Based in Long Island, New York, 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

Morris Broadband is a rapidly growing broadband communications services company providing high-speed data, video and voice services to approximately 36,500 residential and business customers in western North Carolina. As of Dec. 31, Morris Broadband seerved about 89,000 homes throughout growing communities including Hendersonville, Franklin, Sylva, Nebo and West Jefferson with broadband penetration of approximately 35 percent.

“We are very excited to extend Altice USA’s footprint into neighboring communities in North Carolina by acquiring the very fast-growing Morris Broadband," said Dexter Goei, Chief Executive Officer of Altice USA. "Morris is a perfect fit for Altice as we are accelerating our network expansion with increased investment in edge outs, upgrades of underdeveloped systems and FTTH deployment to drive customer, revenue and cash flow growth. We look forward to providing our high-quality broadband, video, mobile, and news offerings to thousands of additional homes and businesses, with a great opportunity to further penetrate Morris’ existing homes passed and by expanding more into adjacent areas.”

William S. “Billy” Morris III, Chairman of Morris Communications Company, said: “It has been a pleasure for the Morris family to serve the residents of western North Carolina for the last 12 years. We are confident that Altice will continue to provide superior services to the region.”

As part of Altice USA, Morris Broadband will benefit from enhanced scale, operating efficiencies and further investment support that are at the core of the Altice business model and strategy, including accelerated new homes build, the company said.

Altice USA intends to finance the transaction with available liquidity. The transaction is subject to certain regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions and is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2021.