On July 21 telecommunications multinational AT&T issued a press release in which it announced the sale of DirecTV assets in Latin America. The purchaser is Grupo Wethein, an Argentine company doing business in various markets such as insurance, health care, finance, energy and real estate. Moreover, the group has experience in the telecommunications industry, since it was a shareholder of Telecom Argentina between 2003 and 2017. The transaction is expected to close in early 2022.
The deal involves 100% of Vrio, the division of AT&T in charge of DirecTV Latin America, Sky Brasil and DirecTV Go. DirecTV Latin America offers Satellite TV service (DTH) in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Uruguay, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados and Curaçao. Sky Brasil provides the above mentioned service in Brazil, while DirecTV Go delivers a Pay TV streaming service in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Uruguay and Mexico. Also included in the transaction are Vrio’s broadband assets in the region and AT&T’s shareholding in Argentina’s production company Torneos and in Colombia’s Win Sports channel.
“Our vision of the future is to maximize these leading entertainment brands in Latin America, maintaining their leadership and increasing their value proposition by investing in technology and content aligned with the viewing habits of each one of the subscribers, including the next generation of consumers,” said Dario Werthein, a shareholder of Grupo Werthein.
“This transaction will further allow us to sharpen our focus on investing in connectivity for customers,” said Lori Lee, CEO at AT&T Latin America. “We remain committed to Latin America through our wireless business in Mexico and services for multinational corporations operating in the region.”