CEO of Altice’s French arm leaves with immediate effect – memo

PARIS (Reuters) -The CEO of Altice Europe’s French business is leaving with immediate effect, according to an internal memo to staff from the unlisted cable group’s billionaire owner Patrick Drahi.

“After 13 years in the group, and through a mutual accord with its owner, (current SFR and Altice France Chief Executive) Gregory Rabuel is leaving his functions … as of today”, said the memo, seen by Reuters.

Business daily Les Echos, which first reported the change, cited a union source as saying the group’s top management had lately grown dissatisfied with the French arm’s financial performance.

Rabuel will be replaced as CEO by the company’s current French media head, Arthur Dreyfuss, the report said.

It added Mathieu Cocq would take over as managing director of French telecoms arm SFR.

Altice, the Amsterdam-based holding company bundling the assets of Franco-Israeli cable magnate Drahi, also owns BFM TV in France, the country’s main news television channel.

(Reporting by Tassilo HummelEditing by Chris Reese and Mark Potter)