DALLAS—AT&T is reportedly fielding offers for what is being described as “a significant minority stake” in its pay-TV operations, which include DirecTV, AT&T and U-Verse. CNBC was the first to report the news, citing sources familiar with the matter.
AT&T is already in discussions with private equity firms, per CNBC, including Apollo Management. AT&T is looking to keep majority economic ownership of its pay-TV business and ownership of the U-Verse infrastructure, but the buyer would control pay-TV distribution operations and consolidate the business on its books. According to sources, the deal could be from anywhere between 30%-49% of AT&T’s pay-TV operations, CNBC reports.
Final deals are said to be due in early December.
At the end of the third quarter of 2020, AT&T reported that it had about 17 million legacy TV subscribers (DirecTV and U-Verse) and about 683,000 AT&T Now customers.
AT&T acquired DirecTV in 2015 for $67 billion. CNBC estimates that a deal for a minority stake could value DirecTV at less than $15 billion, including debt.
For more information, read CNBC’s full coverage.
