European telecoms group Altice is set to become a major player in the US market.<br /><br /> The latest acquisition for the company founded by French-Israeli billionaire Patrick Drahi is Cablevision, whose Irish-American owners had long said they wouldn’t sell.<br /><br /> The deal, said to be worth $17.7 billion (15.7 billion euros), will reportedly be financed by 2.6 billion euros from a share sale, and more than six billion euros in debt.<br /><br /> “I think any sort of expansion into the US is going to be good for any firm. It’s a 15.7 billion euro deal and if it accelerates its expansion there then you are obviously creating a greater amount of exposure and you’re looking for extra growth as well so it is a top five cable provider and it vaults Altice into some of the major pay TV players,” said Brenda Kelly, London Capital Group’s head analyst.<br /><br /> Drahi first bought into the US market in May, announcing his intention to expand the Altice group’s activity in the States.<br /><br /> His empire in recent years has been bu
