Altice will group a number of business units under its name in 2018 as part of a new unified global strategy designed to strengthen its position in telecoms, cable, content and advertising.

The France-based company decided to introduce a single brand following a number of acquisitions in recent years, which include taking control of France’s second largest mobile operator SFR, Portugal Telecom, and US cable operators Cablevision and Suddenlink.

In a statement, Altice said the new global and multi-local branding strategy transforms it from a: “holding company with a collection of different assets and brands around the world, to the establishment of one unified global group with one single brand”.

Michel Combes, CEO (pictured), commented: “One group with one brand…Altice is entering a new era, following its transformation into a global leader in telecoms, content and advertising.”

Mobile ambitions
The announcement comes just one month after the company set the ball rolling on a proposed partial IPO of its US business.

Reuters reported the planned float could allow Altice founder Patrick Drahi to further expand his US business, with a potential move into mobile and content.

“We’re too small in cable to go into mobile at the moment,” he reportedly said.

Altice’s acquisition strategy so far mainly focused on convergence, with a vision to combine mobile with cable.

Drahi also said the company was considering ways to enter the mobile industry, as rival cable players Comcast and Charter work on their own mobile roll-out, following an agreement to partner.

In a statement released by Drahi announcing the company’s rebrand, he talked up the company’s commitment to convergence, stating competition was now more intense “than when we started”.

“We are here to deliver networks, services, media, content and advertising that embrace our differences not to make solitude easier, but collaboration and sharing more important than ever,” he said.