AT&T has postponed a planned IPO of a stake in Vrio, the holding company for its satellite television service DirecTV Latin America. In a brief statement, the company said it decided to withdraw its planned initial public offering of shares of Vrio, citing current market conditions.
The cancellation of the IPO comes just a day before the new stock was scheduled to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange. AT&T’s original plan was plan was to sell Vrio to reduce its debt ahead of the closure of its acquisition of Time Warner. The unit includes satellite and cable television services in Brazil (Sky), Colombia, Argentina and other countries.
Earlier this month the company said it expected the IPO of 29.7 million class A Vrio shares to raise up to USD 653 million at a price of USD 19-22 per share. During the subscription period, the company later to reduce the number of shares and price in order to stimulate demand, but this proved unsuccessful.
