https://tradersunion.com/news/financial-news/show/3793313-altice-international-creditor-lawsuit-assets/
The whole empire may be crumbling
The Altice International lawsuit (filed October 13) names Elliott Management, Sona Asset Management, and Arini Capital as the suing creditors, alleging a "multi-year scheme" to move billions in assets beyond their reach. The specific assets were Altice Portugal and Altice Caribbean — which generate about 80% of Altice International's earnings — shifted outside the creditor pool while leaving the ~€8B in debt behind. Lenders already declared a default on €2B+ of that debt back in July. This is textbook fraudulent transfer, and it mirrors exactly what Apollo and Oaktree are alleging on the Optimum side in the US.
Elliott's involvement is significant. They're one of the most aggressive and sophisticated activist creditors in the world, known for fighting these battles all the way through litigation rather than settling cheaply. Their presence signals this won't be resolved quietly.
Drahi has been running the same playbook across his entire empire simultaneously — Optimum in the US, Altice International in Europe. The total borrowing across the entire Drahi empire was over $60 billion. Optimum's ~$21.8B is just one piece of a global debt pile now blowing up across multiple jurisdictions at the same time. The creditor groups on both sides are clearly aware of each other and appear to be coordinating — the Optimum lawsuit came in September, the Altice International suit came October 13, three weeks later.
Altice has countersued its bondholder group, calling them an "illegal cartel" for coordinating restructuring terms together — the same tactic Optimum used against US lenders in November 2025. It hasn't worked in either case.
The one success story in the empire is Altice France — they cut debt from €24B to €15.5B and are now selling SFR for €20B to Bouygues, Iliad, and Orange (pending regulatory approval). Drahi is presumably trying to replicate that playbook everywhere else, but the US and international lenders watched France closely and aren't offering the same terms.
For the situation at Optimum: with Elliott, Apollo, Oaktree, Sona, and Arini all now in active litigation mode simultaneously, a favorable out-of-court settlement for Drahi is increasingly unlikely. A contested Chapter 11 — where lenders and Drahi fight in court rather than around a negotiating table — is the trajectory this is on.