According to a CNBC report, AT&T is apparently close to an agreement with a private equity company to buy a minority stake in its satellite TV business. The agreement will include DirecTV, AT&T TV Now and U-Verse.
A source for CNBC says that the agreement with TPG can already be announced this week and that the companies will value about $ 15 billion, a decrease from the $ 49 billion that AT&T paid for DirecTV in 2015.
AT&T will use the sale to pay off its $ 150 billion debt.
News of the ‘significant minority interest’ has been circulating since November when AT&T looked at several investors, which apparently include Apollo Global Management and Churchill Capital Corporation. Prior to that news, we learned that AT&T had received a “lowball” offer of less than $ 20 billion.
AT&T lost another 617,000 premium TV customers in the fourth quarter. The number includes DirecTV, U-Verse and AT&T TV subscribers.
Jess Barnes