(Bloomberg) -- Altice USA Inc., the cable television provider that spun off from Patrick Drahi's Altice NV last year, is in advanced talks to sell a minority stake in its Lightpath fiber unit to Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners, according to people familiar with the matter.
The New York-based private equity firm is nearing a deal that would value the unit at about $3 billion, said the people, who asked to not be identified because the matter isn't public. A transaction could be announced as early as next week, one of the people said. Altice USA would keep a majority stake.
No decision has been finalized and talks could still fall through, the people said.
Representatives for Altice USA and Stonepeak declined to comment.
Altice USA rose 1% to $26 at 2:31 p.m. in New York trading, giving the company a market value of about $17.3 billion. The shares have risen about 55% in the past year.
The potential deal comes as Altice USA looks to streamline its portfolio of businesses while sparking growth in broadband and video services.
Altice USA may use proceeds from a potential sale of Lightpath to repurchase shares or pay down debt, Chief Executive Officer Dexter Goei said in a conference call discussing earnings in May. The company had about $23.5 billion debt at March 31, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Lightpath, with a network of about 375,000 miles of fiber, provides Internet, telephone, data transport and other services to businesses in and around New York City, according to Altice USA's annual report.
Stonepeak, founded in 2011, invests in power, utilities transportation and communications businesses, according to its website.
The firm closed its most recent fund with $7.2 billion in 2018.
To contact the reporters on this story: Kiel Porter in Chicago at kporter17@bloomberg.net;Gillian Tan in New York at gtan129@bloomberg.net;Gerry Smith in New York at gsmith233@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Liana Baker at lbaker75@bloomberg.net, ;Alan Goldstein at agoldstein5@bloomberg.net, Matthew Monks, Michael Hytha
©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
Essential Business Intelligence, Continuous LIVE TV, Sharp Market Insights, Practical Personal Finance Advice and Latest Stories — On NDTV Profit.
