Cablevision stocks rise on Altice interest

US MSO Cablevision’s shares spiked at the end of last week after cable and telecom investor Patrick Drahi told the Wall Street Journal that he was interested in acquiring companies including Cablevision and Cox Communications to expand Altice’s US presence.

Cablevision’s stock rose by 9% on the report.

Drahi was named as potentially interested in acquiring Time Warner Cable earlier this year following the collapse of its deal with Comcast, but was beaten in that case by John Malone, who struck a deal to merge Charter Communications with Time Warner Cable and fold in number six US MSO Bright House Networks.

Drahi subsequently said he was “not ready” for a deal on the scale of Time Warner Cable, but that he would look to further opportunities in the US market following his acquisition of number seven player Suddenlink.

Separately, analysts at Berenberg have said that Altice is unlikely to make a bid for Dutch telco KPN in the short term due to the complex structure of the firm’s ownership and potential concerns on the part of the Dutch government on the impact of any acquisition on national security.