Altice USA raises $1.9B in IPO ahead of NYSE trading

June 22 (UPI) -- The Altice USA cable operator said Thursday it raised more than $1.9 billion in an initial public offering, the most raised by any U.S.-listed telecommunications company since 2000.

Altice USA, a company formed in 2016 after the Netherlands-based Altice acquired Cablevision and Suddenlink Communications, sold about 63,900,000 shares of its Class A common stock at a price of $30 per share, the company said in a statement.

"Altice will own 70.3 percent of Altice USA's issued and outstanding common stock, which will represent 98.3 percent of the voting power of Altice USA's outstanding common stock," the company said.

Altice USA executives celebrated the IPO at the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday, when the company's stock began trading under the "ATUS" symbol.

Altice USA serves about 4.9 million residential and business customers across 21 states with Optimum and Suddenlink-branded services.