TPG taking AT&T share?
February 24, 2021
By Chris Forrester
There are unconfirmed reports that TPG (the former Texas Pacific Group) is to take a significant but minority stake in AT&T’s DirecTV business.
Reuters reported that discussions were at an advanced stage some weeks ago, and the stake is understood to include AT&T’s TV NOW and U-verse offerings. CNBC and Bloomberg are both reporting on the deal’s probability.
The rumour mill suggests that the amount TPG will pay will value the whole of AT&T’s pay-TV divisions as worth around $15 billion (€12.33bn). To put this into perspective, AT&T paid $48.5 billion for DirecTV plus debts, which took the total investment to $67 billion.
AT&T has lost around 3 million subscribers over the past year.