AT&T Looking to Sell WB Games in Possible $4 Billion Deal
AT&T (T) is reportedly considering a sale of its Warner Bros. gaming business in a possible $4 billion deal.
Shares of the Dallas company at last check were off slightly Monday to $30.36.
The unit, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, or WB Games, is known for publishing the "Batman: Arkham" series, "Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor," many "LEGO" and "Harry Potter" games, "Mortal Kombat," and "The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt."
The deal could be valued at $4 billion and have a licensing component that would still generate revenue from the intellectual property.
AT&T is looking to reduce its $165 billion debt, according to CNBC. Potential buyers include Take-Two Interactive Software (TTWO) , Activision Blizzard (ATVI) and Electronic Arts (EA)
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An AT&T spokeswoman declined to comment on the reports.
AT&T acquired the gaming business as part of the 2018 buyout of Time Warner assets. This deal and the 2014 acquisition of DirecTV increased AT&T’s debt and the company has been looking to ways to cut costs and unload assets.
Like other media companies, AT&T is losing revenue as television advertisers pull back on deals with broadcast and cable outlets as the coronavirus continues to hit the U.S. economy hard.
In April, AT&T posted modestly weaker-than-expected expected first-quarter earnings and pulled its full-year profit guidance, as the global coronavirus pandemic clipped its bottom line.
In March, the company said it was withdrawing from an agreement with Morgan Stanley & Co. (MS) to repurchase $4 billion of stock during the second quarter due to the coronavirus outbreak.
