Altice’s US business raised a total of $1.9 billion in a long awaited IPO, giving the company a total value of approximately $22 billion.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the offering raised more money than any other US listed telecoms IPO since 2000, in a sign of solid demand.

Altice USA was formed after it acquired, and then merged, cable operators Cablevision and Suddenlink Communications over a two year period.

It now operates as the fourth largest cable operator in the US, with 4.9 million customers.

Altice said in a statement each share was priced at $30, with the bulk of the 63.9 million shares offered by existing stakeholders BC Partners and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.

The two companies together raised the amount of shares they would sell to 51.9 million, from 34.9 million.

Altice, meanwhile, will net around $330 million from 12 million shares it sold, after expenses, and the shares will begin trading on Thursday. The group will also retain almost entire control of the company after the IPO, after issuing Class A shares which have limited voting rights.

Fund debt
Altice said in early June it expected to raise around $1.4 billion from the IPO, after first confirming its intentions to float the unit in late 2016.

The company is expected to use some of the proceeds to finance debt it amassed during an aggressive spending spree. According to reports before the IPO, it could also use the funds to fuel even more acquisitions.

Altice announced last month it would bring a number of its acquired business units under one global brand in 2018, in a bid to strengthen its international position. The company also holds telecoms and cable assets across Europe, including French operator SFR.

In a report, Financial Times added the IPO was in fact the second biggest so far in the US this year.