Altice Buying NC's Morris Broadband for $310M

Altice expects to close its $310 million Morris Broadband buy in Q2, expanding its North Carolina presence, the cable ISP said Monday. Altice CEO Dexter Goei said this fits into Altice's strategy of upgrading underdeveloped systems and using fiber-to-the-home deployment to drive growth. Altice has been on the hunt for rural assets to diversify away from the New York market, and Morris' relatively low penetration leaves room for growth, emailed MoffettNathanson analyst Craig Moffett. "It illustrates strong demand for rural broadband assets."