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Goldman Sachs has tried to cut its debt exposure to Altice, the French telecoms and cable group whose share price has more than halved in the past month, in the latest sign of nervousness about the company’s €51bn debt pile.
Goldman Sachs has been one of the biggest lenders to Altice and its founder, Patrick Drahi, over the past five years, providing the Franco-Israeli billionaire’s private investment vehicles with margin loans and other debt facilities in the run-up to the group’s initial public offering in 2014. The US bank has also been one of the main beneficiaries of investment banking fees paid out by Altice in the past few years as it embarked on an acquisition spree in France, Portugal and the US.
As concerns grew about the company’s performance in November, Goldman Sachs approached several funds in an attempt to sell part of a loan it had previously made to Altice, according to persons familiar with the matter. The US bank’s attempt to sell on this debt suggests that the price collapse of the heavily indebted company’s public shares and bonds is starting to rattle some of its core lenders.