On Thursday, Altice USA, the owner of Cheddar News, took decisive action by selling the financial news streaming service to Archetype, a media company under the ownership of the private equity firm Regent LP.
A few months ago, there were rumblings over a potential sale. Now that CNBC reports that the agreement is complete, it signifies a departure from Altice USA’s previous substantial investment in the streaming news company.
In 2019, French-Israeli billionaire Patrick Drahi, owner of Altice, acquired Cheddar for $200 million. The aim was to strengthen Altice’s news division.
“Cheddar has helped transform the way millennials have accessed television news since its groundbreaking debut broadcast from an iPhone in 2016,” Archetype said in a statement.
“We are excited to assist Cheddar in expanding its reach as the definitive independent ‘Voice of What’s Next’ empowering new audiences to be informed and engaged citizens in an ever-changing world.”
Altice USA has structured the deal as an “earn out” arrangement, with the specific terms not officially disclosed. However, a source familiar with the matter informed CNBC that Altice USA will collect future proceeds contingent upon Cheddar meeting particular performance targets. Internal projections suggest that these payments could potentially reach around $50 million.
“We are incredibly proud of what Cheddar News has accomplished within the Altice USA portfolio, growing its distribution to reach new viewers with fresh and exciting need-to-know news content,” Keith Bowen, president of news, advertising and programming for Altice USA, said in a statement.
Eduardo Razo is the Assistant Content Editor for BNM, which includes writing daily news stories on the news media industry. He can be found on Twitter @eddierazo_ or you can reach him by email at eddie1991razo@gmail.com.
