Telefonica eyes AT&T’s LatAm TV assets
January 18, 2016
From David Del Valle in Madrid
Spain’s Telefonica is reportedly interested in buying AT&T’s pay-TV assets in Latin America, with an enterprise value of over €9 billion, in an attempt to strengthen its presence in the continent.
AT&T bought the Latin America assets as part of its acquisition of DirecTV last year. The business includes satellite and cable television services in Brazil Colombia, Venezuela, Argentina and several other countries. AT&T has about 19 million pay-TV subscribers in Central and South America, making it the biggest player in the region.
Telefonoca is a major wireless player in Latin America under the Movistar brand in Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Mexico; it also owns Vivo in Brazil. Telefonica’s regional pay-TV operations, however, are smaller, and trail AT&T and American Movil’s Claro.
AT&T owns about 93 per cent of Sky Brasil, the largest satellite provider in the region’s biggest economy. It owns PanAmericana, which offers satellite TV services under the DirecTV brand in countries including Venezuela, Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Puerto Rico. It is also a shareholder in Sky Mexico, which is controlled by Mexico’s Grupo Televisa.