Adelphia's Puerto Rico Properties Fetch $3,800/Sub

摘要

Private equity firms MidOcean Partners and Crestview Capital Partners 6/6 agreed to purchase Adelphia systems in Puerto Rico for $520 mil. in cash, setting another large-sale benchmark in the cable deal market. With 137K customers in greater San Juan, the JV deal is valued at $3,796/sub —a highwater mark in a market dominated by deals for smaller, more rural systems and the second-highest VPS in our 2005 tally of cable TV transactions, behind Comcast's redemption of its 21% stake in TW Cable. The price tops the $3,530/sub Comcast/Time Warner paid 4/21 for Adelphia's mainland properties. The strong VPS benchmark is a function of the property's robust per-sub revenues, but our estimated 7.7x running-rate cash flow multiple for the deal is a function of the systems' relatively high margins.