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Altice USA is in talks to sell the financial news streaming service Cheddar News to LA-based private equity firm Regent LP, according to people familiar with the matter.
No deal is assured and discussions around structure are still fluid, said the people, who asked not to be named because the talks are private.
In one iteration of a potential transaction, Altice USA and Regent have discussed a deal where no money will initially exchange hands, one of the people said. Instead, Altice USA would participate in Cheddar’s future performance as part of a so-called “earn out” structure. If Cheddar meets certain performance targets, Altice USA would collect proceeds in future years that could amount to about $50 million based on internal projections, the person said.
Cheddar was founded in 2016 by Jon Steinberg, who built the company as a business news streaming service aimed at millennials. Altice USA acquired Cheddar for $200 million in 2019. At the time, CEO Dexter Goei told CNBC he made the deal because he was impressed with Steinberg’s ability to grow the business and its advertising revenue. Steinberg stayed with Altice USA through the deal before departing the company in early 2022. Goei stepped down as Altice USA’s CEO later that year.
Since then, Altice USA, the fourth-largest U.S. cable provider, behind Comcast, Charter and Cox, has looked to shed assets as its stock price has plummeted. Shares have fallen nearly 60% this year amid…
