AT&T Finally Made a Deal to Sell (Some of) DIRECTV
AT&T (NYSE: T) took a big step toward cutting the cord on its pay-TV business. It's spinning off its DIRECTV, U-Verse, and AT&T TV businesses into a new company with private equity firm TPG. AT&T will retain 70% ownership of the new company, but it will get a much-needed cash infusion as part of the deal, valuing the business at $16.25 billion. It's not an ideal end result from AT&T's $67 billion DIRECTV acquisition from 2014, but it's necessary for AT&T to move forward.
AT&T has been under pressure to sell its pay-TV business ever since activist investor Elliott Management took a $3.2 billion position in the company in 2019. Elliott posited AT&T's acquisition strategy not only left it burdened with debt, but also caused distractions leading to operational underperformance.
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Source Fool.com
