Thomson Reuters
DirecTV satellite dishes are seen on an apartment roof in Los Angeles
- AT&T's stock price climbed on Thursday following a report it's exploring a parting of ways with DirecTV, the satellite provider it purchased for $49 billion in 2015.
- The telecommunications giant is considering spinning off DirecTV into a separate public company. It's also weighing the option of combining its assets with Dish Network, according to the Wall Street Journal.
- The report comes less than two weeks after activist hedge fund Elliott Management disclosed a $3.2 billion stake in AT&T and said the company should explore divesting assets such as DirecTV.
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Shares of AT&T rose more than 1% in early trading Thursday on a report the company is looking to part ways with DirecTV just four years after shelling out $49 billion for the satellite provider.
The company is mulling a spinoff of DirecTV into a separate public company, or a merger of its assets with satellite competitor Dish Network, according to the Wall Street Journal. AT&T could also decided to keep DirecTV, the report found.
The news come less than two weeks after activist hedge fund Elliott Management announced a $3.2 billion stake in AT&T and said the company should consider selling assets such as DirecTV. Elliott described AT&T's previous mergers as damaging to the firm's overall business.
A group of investors also filed a lawsuit against AT&T earlier this week claiming the company created fake DirecTV accounts to boost subscriber numbers ahead of its $85 billion Time Warner deal.
AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson championed the DirecTV deal in 2015 as a way for the company to expand further into the media industry. Stephenson doubled-down on that effort in 2018 by completing the company's acquisition of Time Warner.
Shares of AT&T are up 28.8% year-to-date through Wednesday's close.
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