AT&T is reportedly close to finalizing an agreement with a private equity firm to buy a minority stake in its satellite TV business, according to a CNBC report. The deal would include DirecTV, AT&T TV Now and U-Verse.
A CNBC source says the deal with TPG could be announced later this week and would value the deal at about $ 15 billion, down from $ 49 billion that AT&T paid for DirecTV in 2015.
AT&T would use the sale to help pay off its $ 150 billion debt.
News of “significant minority interest” has been circulating since November, when AT&T was looking for a number of investors, who allegedly included Apollo Global Management and Churchill Capital Corporation. Before that news, we learned that AT&T had been receiving “low” offers of less than $ 20 billion.
AT&T lost another 617,000 premium TV customers in the fourth quarter. This number includes subscribers to DirecTV, U-Verse and AT&T TV.
Jess Barnes