AT&T has held internal discussions about selling its HBO Europe business as it looks to reduce its USD 170 billion debt burden, reports the Financial Times.
According to multiple sources familiar with the matter, HBO Europe is one of several assets AT&T has considered selling, with this understood to have strained relations with executives at the TV network. HBO came under AT&T control following the 2018 takeover of Time Warner Media. HBO currently licenses its programming to local pay-TV companies and broadcasters across more than 20 European markets. HBO Europe, which has around 200 employees, also makes local language programmes, and operates its own direct-to-consumer streaming service to compete with Netflix in the region.
According to several former and current senior executives with direct knowledge of internal talks about the sale of HBO Europe, AT&T did not want any news about a possible sale being made public to avoid any more executive departures at the network. Since the takeover of Time Warner Media, now rebranded as WarnerMedia, HBO CEO Richard Plepler and chief revenue officer Simon Sutton have left due to friction with AT&T executives.
According to sources familiar with the matter, AT&T has been considering a sale of HBO Europe since late-2018, but there have been no formal talks with potential buyers. Another source close to AT&T management in Europe said that the company's US-based leadership was too focused on the US business and doesn't see HBO as a strong business in Europe.
