AT&T planning IPO of DirecTV LatAm stake

Thursday 8 February 2018 | 08:39 CET | News

AT&T has announced that it’s exploring an initial public offering of a minority stake in satellite television service DirecTV Latin America in the first half of 2018. In a brief statement the company confirmed that it has confidentially filed an IPO registration statement with US regulators but gave no assurance that the transaction will be completed. The filing confirms earlier reports that AT&T was reviewing its portfolio with a view to reducing its debt, which is set to surge to around USD 180 billion once its USD 85.4 billion acquisition of Time Warner closes. The company could raise over USD 8 billion for the sale of its Latin American pay-TV assets and could also meet anti-trust concerns expressed in Brazil and Mexico.

AT&T acquired DirecTV for USD 48.5 billion back in 2015, with subscribers growing to around 13.6 million at the end of 2017, up 1.1 million from a year earlier. Telefonica and Liberty Latin America have been reported as potential merger partners should the transaction complete later this year.