Awful Transaction and Timing: AT&T Finally Ditches DirecTV
Freeman writes:
AT&T has completed its spinoff of DirecTV after six years of mismanagement in which nearly 10 million customers ditched the company's pay-TV services.
AT&T bought DirecTV for $49 billion ($67 billion including debt) in July 2015 even though DirecTV and other traditional TV services were already losing subscribers in the face of competition from online streaming. Customer losses were inevitable but DirecTV's losses under AT&T ownership went far beyond anything experienced by other major TV providers.
AT&T revealed the spinoff plan in February and announced the deal's completion yesterday. AT&T partnered with private-equity firm TPG to create a new company called DirecTV, which "will own and operate the DirecTV, AT&T TV, and U-verse video services previously owned and operated by AT&T," the announcement said.
AT&T will no longer run DirecTV, perhaps allowing it to succeed under better management. But AT&T will own 70 percent of the new company's stock, with TPG owning the other 30 percent. AT&T will receive $7.1 billion in cash to help pay down its debt, which consists of $160.7 billion in long-term debt and $19.5 billion of debt maturing within one year. TPG paid $1.8 billion for its 30 percent stake.
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