In a dramatic twist emblematic of Europe’s telecom turbulence, Altice France SA, the country’s second-largest telecom provider, has filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy protection in New York, seeking U.S. court recognition of its French insolvency proceedings as it buckles under €19.2 billion ($22 billion) in debt.
The Paris-based company submitted its petition late Tuesday, shortly after the Paris Commercial Court initiated an accelerated safeguard procedure on June 10 — a French insolvency mechanism designed to allow financially distressed firms to restructure swiftly.
A Financial Signal Lost in Static
According to a declaration by foreign representative Laurent Halimi, Altice France’s towering liabilities include roughly €10.9 billion in senior secured debt, with $7.8 billion of that tied up in U.S. dollar-denominated notes — a sign of its expansive global financial footprint.
The request for Chapter 15 protection, which helps foreign debtors safeguard U.S.-based assets while working through international restructuring, comes as the company gasps for air amid rising interest rates, mounting inflation, and relentless sector competition.
“The debtors have struggled to service their highly-leveraged capital structure while facing declining earnings resulting, in part, from the aforementioned competitive pressures and rising costs,” Halimi said in the first-day filing.
