The IPO of Numericable Group opened on October 28 and closed on November 12, 2013. It consisted of a primary offering of approximately 250 million euros and a secondary offering of approximately 400 million euros (which could be raised to 500 million euros if the greenshoe option were exercised). The shares were offered to the public in France and internationally through private investments, including under Rule 144A in the United States. Deutsche Bank AG and J.P. Morgan Securities plc acted as Global Coordinators, Lead Managers and Joint Bookrunners; Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, HSBC Bank plc and Morgan Stanley & Co. International acted as Joint Lead Managers and Joint Bookrunners; and Jefferies International Ltd, Nomura International plc and Oddo et Cie acted as Joint Lead Managers in the offering.
At the end of the first trading day, the Company’s market capitalization was 3,532,374,331.50 euros, which is the largest IPO in Paris since 2008.
Numericable Group is the only major cable operator in France. It leverages its very-high-speed fiber-optic infrastructure to serve three segments: B2C, B2B and wholesale.
Franklin’s team, led by Alexandre Marque and consisting of Jérôme Michel, Kai Völpel and Laurent Halimi, advised Altice on this major transaction, which allowed Altice to become the principal shareholder of Numericable Group with a stake of over 30%.
Franklin has advised Numericable on all its inorganic growth transactions since the group’s takeover by Altice and the Cinven fund in 2005.
