WHEN: Today, Tuesday, June 21st
WHERE: CNBC's "Squawk on the Street"
Following is the unofficial transcript of a CNBC EXCLUSIVE interview with Dexter Goei, Altice USA CEO, on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" (M-F, 9AM-11AM ET) today, Tuesday, June 21st. Following is a link to the interview on CNBC.com: http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000527765.
All references must be sourced to CNBC.
DAVID FABER: ALTICE CLOSING ITS DEAL FOR CABLEVISION THIS MORNING, AS WE JUST DISCUSSED, CREATING WHAT WILL BE THE FOURTH LARGEST CABLE OPERATOR IN THE UNITED STATES. JOINING ME NOW IS THE CEO OF ALTICE USA, DEXTER GOEI. NICE TO HAVE YOU HERE ON THE EXCHANGE.
DEXTER GOEI: THANK YOU, DAVID.
FABER: CONGRATS OF COURSE, ON CLOSING THIS DEAL.
GOEI: THANK YOU VERY MUCH. EXTREMELY EXCITED.
FABER: ALTICE TO BECOME PERHAPS MORE OF A HOUSEHOLD NAME HERE IN THE U.S.
GOEI: WE HOPE SO.
FABER: YOU ALREADY OWN SUDDENLINK. NOW YOU OWN CABLEVISION. THERE'S BEEN A LOT MADE, AND I'VE CERTAINLY BEEN ONE OF THE PEOPLE DOING IT, ABOUT THE $900 MILLION SYNERGY TARGET YOU HAVE – OR COST SAVING TARGET YOU HAVE FOR THIS ACQUISITION, WHICH IS FAR LARGER THAN, FOR EXAMPLE, EVEN CHARTER PUT OUT THERE WHEN IT WAS ACQUIRING TIME WARNER CABLE, OFF A MUCH LARGER COST BASE. WHAT GIVES YOU THE CONFIDENCE THAT YOU CAN DELIVER THOSE KINDS OF NUMBERS WHEN MANY PEOPLE SAY, GOD, I DON'T SEE HOW THEY CAN DO IT.
GOEI: WELL LISTEN, WE FEEL AS IF WE BRING A NEW WAY OF THINKING TO THE BUSINESS HERE. WE'VE EXPERIENCED QUITE A LOT OF CHANGES IN COMPETITIVE PRESSURES IN THE EUROPEAN MARKETS, AND WE THINK WE'VE GOT A GOOD STEADY VIEW AS TO WHAT WE CAN DELIVER OVER THE NEXT FOUR TO FIVE YEARS. I THINK IT'S TIME TO LET US WORK, HELP US FOCUS ON INTEGRATING THE BUSINESSES AND OPERATING THEM AND THEN WE'LL SEE. WE'LL TALK ABOUT THIS AS WE GO ALONG AND WE FEEL REALLY GOOD ABOUT WHAT WE'VE GOT AND THE MARKETS DO.
FABER: WHAT DOES THAT MEAN, THOUGH, WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT AN APPROACH? BECAUSE NOT TO – BUT PEOPLE SAY WHAT DOES A FRENCH COMPANY KNOW THAT WE DON'T KNOW HERE IN THE U.S.? YOU KNOW, THAT JERRY KENT DIDN'T KNOW WHEN HE WAS RUNNING SUDDENLINK? OR THAT TOM RUTLEDGE – WELL, TOM RUTLEDGE DIDN'T RUN CABLEVISION FOR A WHILE, BUT THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE RUN CABLEVISION THROUGH THE YEARS DON'T KNOW. I MEAN, I TALKED TO RUTLEDGE, WHO OF COURSE RUNS CHARTER – NOW SPECTRUM – AND HE SAID TO ME BACK IN NOVEMBER HAVING RUN THAT BUSINESS, I DON'T KNOW HOW HE'S GOING TO DO IT. THAT MEANS DELIVER THE $900 MILLION, BUT MAYBE HE KNOWS SOMETHING I DON'T KNOW. WHAT DO YOU KNOW?
GOEI: WELL, MAYBE WE DO KNOW SOMETHING THEY DON'T KNOW. I DON'T KNOW. I THINK IT'S FAIR TO SAY JUST GIVE US THE SPACE TO OPERATE HERE. I THINK THERE'S SOMETHING TO BE SAID ABOUT THE FACT THAT AS YOU COMP UP DIFFERENT MARKETS AROUND THE WORLD, AND EVEN HERE IN THE U.S. THERE ARE CERTAIN OPERATORS THAT HAVE RUN THEIR BUSINESSES BETTER THAN OTHERS, AT LEAST FROM A MARGIN STANDPOINT. JERRY BEING BEST IN CLASS.
FABER: JERRY KENT, OF COURSE, WHO RAN SUDDENLINK BEFORE IT WAS SOLD TO YOU.
GOEI: JERRY KENT, WHO RAN SUDDENLINK. AND AS YOU'VE SEEN, I THINK WE'VE LOOKED TO IMPROVE ON THE PERFORMANCE THERE WITH A HAWK-LIKE FOCUS ON TOP LINE GROWTH. AND SO, FIRST QUARTER, THE RESULTS WERE GOOD. WE EXPECT SECOND QUARTER AND THIRD QUARTER TO CONTINUE ON THOSE TRENDS. SO. ALL I CAN SAY IS THAT WE FEEL GOOD ABOUT OUR MEDIUM TERM TARGETS HERE.
FABER: YEAH, I MEAN, YOU HAD REVENUE GROWTH AT SUDDENLINK THAT I THINK WAS ABOVE WHAT SOME PEOPLE MIGHT HAVE ANTICIPATED. DO YOU THINK YOU CAN GET REVENUE GROWTH MOVING AT A HIGHER RATE AT CABLEVISION AS WELL?
GOEI: WELL, I THINK CABLEVISION BEING IN A MORE MATURE HIGHLY PENETRATED MARKET OBVIOUSLY IS NOT GOING TO SEE THE SAME REVENUE GROWTH METRICES AS A SUDDENLINK, BUT WE THINK WE CAN DO THINGS ON THE REVENUE SIDE. EITHER BY LOOKING AT DIFFERENT REVENUE STREAMS, LOOKING AT TRYING TO MONETIZE OUR EXISTING BASE A LITTLE BIT MORE EFFICIENTLY. AND SO, WE'RE GOING TO BE VERY FOCUSED ON THE TOP LINE AND MAKE SURE THAT WE CONTINUE TO GROW THE BUSINESS.
FABER: YOU KNOW, PATRICK DRAHI, YOUR CONTROLLING SHAREHOLDER, OWNS 60% OF ALTICE. WHEN I SAW HIM, THE ONLY TIME REALLY WAS AT A GOLDMAN CONFERENCE, YOU WERE THERE AS WELL, ON THE DAY YOU ANNOUNCED THE DEAL LAST FALL. AND HE WAS TALKING ABOUT FIRING PEOPLE AND WE DON'T LIKE ANYBODY WHO IS OVER 30 YEARS OLD TO BE RUNNING THIS COMPANY. I MEAN, HE SAID SOME THINGS THAT STRUCK PEOPLE AS A LITTLE AGGRESSIVE AND A LITTLE OUT OF SORT OF – MAYBE YOU'D GET FROM A FOUNDER TYPE. BUT ARE YOU GUYS REALLY FOLLOWING THROUGH ON ALL OF THOSE THINGS?
GOEI: NO, AND I THINK A LOT OF WHAT PATRICK HAS BEEN SAID HAS BEEN A LITTLE MISINTERPRETED. YOU KNOW, WE ARE NOT FOCUSED ON A SALARY LEVEL, AND THAT'S A LEVEL AT WHICH POINT WE'RE NOT INTERESTED IN HAVING SOMEONE STAY. WE'RE VERY FOCUSED ON ALIGNING EMPLOYEES WITH THEIR SHAREHOLDERS. SO WE'VE JUST CHANGED THE COMPENSATION STRUCTURE FOR THE SENIOR MANAGEMENT TEAM. THE EXISTING MANAGEMENT TEAM IS A VERY UNIFIED CABLEVISION AND SUDDENLINK TEAM HERE GOING FORWARD. AND I THINK EVERYONE IS REALLY EXCITED ABOUT THIS. SO, WHOLESALE CHANGES AND EMPLOYEES IS A COMPLETE MISNOMER FOR US RIGHT NOW, AND WE'RE VERY FOCUSED ON INTEGRATION AND DELIVERING AND FOCUSING ON OUR CUSTOMER-CENTRIC APPROACH.
FABER: SOMETHING ELSE YOU'D SEEM TO BE FOCUSED ON WAS EXPANDING THE U.S. SUDDENLINK, CABLEVISION, YOU LOOKED AT TIME WARNER CABLE, BUT THERE DOESN'T SEEM TO BE MUCH OUT THERE ANYMORE. ARE YOU KIND OF DONE IN THE U.S.? HAVE YOU TAPPED OUT IN TERMS OF WHAT YOU CAN DO FROM AN ACQUISITION STANDPOINT?
GOEI: WELL, WE'RE VERY FOCUSED ON 2016 AS WE'VE TOLD THE MARKETS ON INTEGRATING AND OPERATING OUR EXISTING PLATFORMS BOTH IN EUROPE AND HERE IN THE U.S. WE'VE GOT QUITE A LOT OF WORK AHEAD OF US. WE'RE FOCUSING ON OUR BALANCE SHEET AND MAKING SURE THAT WE DELEVERAGE APPROPRIATELY AND QUICKLY. AND THEN 2017 WILL BE A NEW YEAR FOR US. AND WE'LL SEE WHAT HAPPENS. YES, CLEARLY THERE IS CONSOLIDATION THAT'S BEEN OCCURRING IN THE CABLE INDUSTRY. THAT'S ALLOWED FOR LESS AND LESS PLAYERS BEING OUT THERE. BUT THAT DOESN'T REALLY CHANGE OUR APPROACH FOR LONG TERM GROWTH OF OUR BUSINESS AND WHETHER THAT BE THROUGH CONSOLIDATION OR ORGANIC GROWTH.
FABER: ALRIGHT, BUT NOW YOU HAVE TO GO TOE-TO-TOE WITH VERIZON'S FIOS, AS YOU SAID, IT IS A LITTLE MORE COMPETITIVE HERE THAN PERHAPS SOME OF THE SUDDENLINK MARKETS. WHAT ABOUT SKINNY BUNDLES? THE INTRODUCTION OF PACKAGES THAT MIGHT APPEAL TO PEOPLE WHO DON'T WANT TO BE PAYING FOR AS MUCH THAT THEY DON'T NEED.
GOEI: WELL, WE'RE VERY FOCUSED ON TRYING TO ADAPT OURSELVES TO WHAT OUR CUSTOMERS WANT, WHICH INCLUDES SKINNY BUNDLES IN MANY RESPECTS. I THINK YOU KNOW THERE'S A COMPLEXITY IN THIS MARKET, WHICH WE ARE JUST LEARNING ABOUT AND GETTING UP TO SPEED ABOUT, WHEN DEALING WITH VARIOUS CONTENT PROVIDERS. SO IT'S SOMETHING THAT WE'RE GOING TO WORK ON OVER THE NEXT SIX MONTHS TO REALLY UNDERSTAND HOW WE GET TO FROM A TO B AND RELATIVE TO RESPONDING TO CERTAIN OF OUR CUSTOMER NEEDS. SO IT'S REALLY ABOUT STRUCTURING.
FABER: DON'T YOU JUST BECOME – ALL OF YOU BECOME BIG BROADBAND COMPANIES EVENTUALLY? I MEAN, ISN'T THAT SORT OF – WE WERE HAVING THIS DISCUSSION EARLIER. ISN'T THAT THE KEY PRODUCT AND THAT WHAT YOU ALL – I MEAN, CHARTER CHANGED ITS NAME TO SPECTRUM.
GOEI: I THINK WE ARE MORE THAN OBVIOUSLY A BROADBAND PROVIDER. I THINK IT REALLY THINKS ABOUT – REALLY NEED TO THINK ABOUT OUR STRATEGIC DIRECTION GOING FORWARD. WE ARE FOCUSED ON THE CONTENT WORLD. WE DO BELIEVE THAT VIDEO IS A SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS.
FABER: BUT IT WILL BE DELIVERED, PERHAPS, THROUGH A STREAMING SERVICE THROUGH THE BROADBAND EVENTUALLY.
GOEI: MAYBE. ABSOLUTELY. DOESN'T MEAN WE WON'T HAVE REVENUES COMING FROM VIDEO SUBSCRIBERS. SO I THINK THAT'S ALL ABOUT HOW WE FIGURE OUT HOW TO WORK WITH THE CONTENT PROVIDERS IN THE MOST EFFICIENT AND FAIR WAY. AND THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE'RE GOING TO BE FOCUSED ON HAVING THOSE DISCUSSIONS WITH THEM.
FABER: WELL, WE'LL BE WATCHING, OF COURSE, AS YOU DO THAT. BUT WE CERTAINLY APPRECIATE YOU UPDATING US TODAY. CONGRATS ON CLOSING THE DEAL.
GOEI: I REALLY APPRECIATE IT. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. THANKS, DAVID.
FABER: DEXTER GOEI HEAD OF U.S. OPERATIONS HERE FOR ALTICE.
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