AT&T has sold its 10% minority stake in Hulu — now majority owned by Disney, with the rest held by Comcast — back to the streaming-video joint venture for $1.43 billion.

The transaction values Hulu at $15 billion. According to the companies, the transaction didn’t require any governmental or other third-party approvals and was simultaneously signed and closed.

“We thank AT&T for their support and investment over the past two years and look forward to collaboration in the future,” Hulu CEO Randy Freer said in a statement Monday. “WarnerMedia will remain a valued partner to Hulu for years to come as we offer customers the best of TV, live and on demand, all in one place.”

AT&T is exiting Hulu as the telco’s WarnerMedia division gears up for a late 2019 launch of its own subscription streaming services — and could mean that WarnerMedia will at some point try to pull back content licensed to Hulu.

As reported by Variety in February, Disney had been in active discussions with AT&T about acquiring the telco’s minority stake in Hulu (technically 9.5%). Disney obtained 60% ownership of Hulu after it acquired the entertainment assets of 21st Century Fox for $71 billion, a deal that closed in March. The remaining 30% was held by Comcast/NBCUniversal. Earlier this year, NBCU chief Steve Burke signaled that he doesn’t want to exit Hulu in the near future.

“Disney would like to buy us out,” Burke told Variety in a January interview. “I don’t think anything’s going to happen in the near term.”

The fact that the AT&T/WarnerMedia stake in Hulu was sold to the JV — rather than to Disney — is further indication that NBCU wants to remain a key player in Hulu. NBCUniversal is cooking up its own streaming plans, slated to hit in 2020, that would be free to existing pay-TV customers or available for a fee to those without.

So what is Hulu’s ownership breakdown vis-a-vis Disney and Comcast at this point? According to a Hulu rep, “Hulu is the entity purchasing AT&T’s shares, and Hulu’s owners now have a window of time to allocate the shares.”

Disney and Comcast reps didn’t immediately respond to a request for more info. Assuming AT&T’s 9.5% stake is apportioned according to their previous ownership stakes, Disney would own two-thirds (67%) of Hulu, with Comcast/NBCU owning the remaining 33%.

The $15 billion valuation for Hulu that’s implied by the AT&T sale is a significant increase over its previous estimated worth: Disney last summer in a regulatory filing had projected Hulu’s fair value to be $9.3 billion after the 21st Century Fox deal closed.

And it’s more than 2.5 times the $5.8 billion valuation for Hulu when Time Warner originally made a $583 million investment in Hulu in August 2016. Following its acquisition of Time Warner, AT&T execs have said they were considering divesting the Hulu stake.

On Monday, AT&T said it will use proceeds from the transaction to reduce its debt — including the billions it accumulated through the Time Warner acquisition — along with additional planned sales of other “non-core assets.”

Disney sees Hulu as a key plank in its direct-to-consumer subscription VOD lineup, alongside Disney+ and ESPN+.

At last week’s Disney Investor Day, Disney CFO Christine McCarthy projected Hulu will have 40 million-60 million subscribers by end of fiscal year 2024. She said Hulu’s operating losses are expected to peak at $1.5 billion in Disney’s fiscal year 2019 (which ends in September), with Hulu achieving profitability in FY 2023 or 2024.

Hulu’s losses have increased with its investment in technology and programming. For 2018, Hulu lost around $1.5 billion, up from $920 million a year earlier, according to Comcast’s most recent 10-K filing (which reports Hulu’s losses as a portion of its equity).

Hulu said it ended 2018 with more than 25 million total subscribers, a net gain of 8 million for the year. (Hulu does not break out how many of its subscribers are only on subscription VOD plans versus how many have live TV packages.) Last year, according to Hulu, it grew ad revenue more than 45% in 2018, to nearly $1.5 billion, a company record.

Formed in 2007, Hulu was born as a three-way joint venture of Disney, NBCUniversal and Fox. Originally it was designed as a free, ad-supported service to catch up on broadcast TV shows. Today it offers a subscription VOD tier with ads at $5.99 per month, with some 85,000 episodes and movies; an SVOD tier with no ads for $11.99 per month; and a live TV package that includes over 50 channels and access to SVOD for $44.99 monthly.

With Disney assuming majority control Hulu, execs at the media conglomerate have said they’re exploring the launch of Hulu outside the U.S.</s>AT&T has sold its minority stake in online content streaming service provider, Hulu, for $1.43 billion. AT&T offloaded its 9.5 per cent stake in the company…

AT&T has sold its minority stake in online content streaming service provider, Hulu, for $1.43 billion. AT&T offloaded its 9.5 per cent stake in the company, by selling it back to the joint venture. The transaction valued Hulu at $15 billion.

“We thank AT&T for their support and investment over the past two years and look forward to collaboration in the future. WarnerMedia will remain a valued partner to Hulu for years to come as we offer customers the best of TV, live and on demand, all in one place,” said Hulu CEO Randy Freer.

AT&T has been on a much publicised quest to pay down its debt levels and has previously stated that it intends to pay off $20 billion of outstanding debt in 2019.

"We’re on track to get to the 2.5x debt-to-EBITDA range by year-end 2019. And as we’re nearing completion of our fibre build and making pricing moves on video, we’re laying the foundation for stabilizing our Entertainment Group profitability in 2019. Across the business, I like our momentum and feel confident that we’re on track to deliver on our plans,” said AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson.

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Trump urges US to focus on 5G</s>April 16 (UPI) -- AT&T has sold its 10 percent minority stake in Hulu back to the streaming-video giant for $1.43 billion.

Based on that transaction, Hulu is now valued at $15 billion. Disney owns the majority of Hulu with the remainder owned by Comcast.

"We thank AT&T for their support and investment over the past two years and look forward to collaboration in the future," Hulu CEO Randy Freer said in a statement Monday. "WarnerMedia will remain a valued partner to Hulu for years to come as we offer customers the best of TV, live and on demand, all in one place."

AT&T will be launching its own subscription streaming service to compete with Hulu. That could mean that WarnerMedia pulls some of its content from Hulu so it can be exclusively on its own service. Proceeds from the sale will go toward paying off AT&T's debt.

Disney had a 30 percent stake in Hulu until it acquired Fox, which gave it another 30 percent.

Hulu gained 25 million total subscribers in 2018, a net gain of 8 million for the year.</s>Streaming service company Hulu is buying back wireless carrier AT&T Inc's 9.5 percent stake in the company in a deal valued at US$1.43 billion, the two companies said on Monday.

REUTERS: Hulu is buying back wireless carrier AT&T Inc's stake in the U.S. entertainment streaming service for US$1.43 billion, in a deal that values Hulu at US$15 billion, the two companies said on Monday.

The purchase of AT&T's 9.5 percent stake in Hulu gives Walt Disney Co, which holds a 60 percent stake in Hulu via a joint venture, more control of the company.

Comcast Corp's NBCUniversal has a 30 percent stake in Hulu. Based on the joint venture agreement, Disney and Comcast will decide how they want to allocate the shares bought from AT&T.

Hulu, which competes with Netflix Inc and Amazon.com's Prime Video, has more than 25 million subscribers and is expected to lose US$1.5 billion in the current fiscal year.

Hulu's total value has now risen from a reported US$5.8 billion in 2016, when Time Warner - now a part of AT&T - bought the stake. Netflix at the time had a market capitalization of about US$41 billion. Based on Monday's stock market closing price, Netflix is valued at US$152 billion.

It was unclear how the deal could affect content on Hulu in the immediate future. AT&T is preparing to launch its own subscription streaming video service.

"WarnerMedia will remain a valued partner to Hulu for years to come as we offer customers the best of TV, live and on demand, all in one place," Hulu Chief Executive Officer Randy Freer said in a statement.

AT&T said it would use the proceeds http://pdf.reuters.com/htmlnews/htmlnews.asp?i=43059c3bf0e37541&u=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20190415:nBw2r0mxza from the deal to reduce debt, which stood at US$176.5 billion at the end of 2018.

The company had said in November it could consider selling its stake in Hulu and review its non-core assets in 2019.

The transaction did not require any governmental or other third-party approvals and was simultaneously signed and closed, Hulu and AT&T said.

Disney last week forecast Hulu's subscribers to reach 40 million to 60 million by fiscal 2024 and the company would become profitable in the United States by 2023 or 2024.</s>AT&T has sold its 9.5% stake in OTT video service provider Hulu for $1.43 billion.

The companies said the transaction values Hulu, which is majority owned by Disney, at $15 billion. They noted that the deal didn't require governmental or other third-party approvals, so it was simultaneously signed and closed.

The deal gives Disney even more control of Hulu, the company behind an SVoD and live TV streaming service with about 25 million subs combined. Disney, which will get deeper into the direct-to-consumer OTT game when it launches Disney+ on November 12, secured 60% of Hulu following the 21st Century Fox deal, and will now have about 70% of the OTT company.

The AT&T sell-off could spark more speculation on whether Comcast/NBCU will also look to unload their 30% stake in Hulu.

AT&T, meanwhile, said it will use the proceeds from the divestiture, along with other planned sales of "non-core assets," to reduce its debt. The Hulu stake sale also arrives as AT&T's WarnerMedia unit prepares to launch a set of subscription-based, OTT-delivered VoD video services.
• As Hulu Live Tops 1M Subs, Who Leads the OTT-TV Race?</s>(Reuters) - Hulu is buying back wireless carrier AT&T Inc’s 9.5 percent stake in the U.S. entertainment streaming service in a deal valued at $1.43 billion, the two companies said on Monday.

Hulu, which competes with Netflix Inc and Amazon.com’s Prime Video, has more than 25 million subscribers and is expected to lose $1.5 billion in the current fiscal year.

The deal implies Hulu’s total value is some $15 billion - up from a reported $5.8 billion in 2016, when Time Warner - now a part of AT&T - bought the stake. Netflix at the time had a market capitalization of about $41 billion and is currently valued at $152 billion as on Monday’s close.

The move gives Walt Disney Co, which holds a 60 percent stake in Hulu via a joint venture, more control of the company.

Comcast Corp’s NBCUniversal has a 30 percent stake. Based on the joint venture agreement, Disney and Comcast will decide on how they want to allocate the shares bought from AT&T.

It was unclear how the deal could affect content on Hulu in the immediate future. AT&T is preparing to launch its own subscription streaming video service.

Hulu Chief Executive Officer Randy Freer said in a statement that “WarnerMedia will remain a valued partner to Hulu for years to come as we offer customers the best of TV, live and on demand, all in one place.”

AT&T did not respond to a Reuters request for comment on the structure of the deal.

The wireless carrier said it would use the proceeds here from the deal to cut down its debt, which stood at $176.5 billion at the end of 2018.

The company had said in November it could consider selling its stake in Hulu and review its non-core assets in 2019.

Disney last week forecast Hulu’s subscribers to reach 40 million to 60 million by fiscal 2024 and become profitable in the United States by either 2023 or 2024.</s>(Reuters) - Hulu is buying back wireless carrier AT&T Inc’s 9.5 percent stake in the streaming service company in a deal valued at $1.43 billion, the two companies said on Monday.

The transaction valued Hulu at $15 billion. The company, which competes with Netflix Inc and Amazon.com’s Prime Video, has more than 25 million subscribers and is expected to lose $1.5 billion in the current fiscal year.

AT&T did not respond to a Reuters request for a comment on the structure of the deal.

Wall Street analysts were expecting Walt Disney Co, which holds a 60 percent stake in the joint venture that owns Hulu, to buy AT&T’s stake.

Comcast Corp’s NBCUniversal has a 30 percent stake. Based on the joint venture agreement, Disney and Comcast will get to decide on how they want to allocate the shares bought from AT&T.

Meanwhile, the wireless carrier said it will use the proceeds here from the deal to cut down its debt, which stood at $176.51 billion at the end of 2018.

AT&T said in November it could consider selling its stake in Hulu and review its non-core assets in 2019 as in an effort to cut its pile of debt.

Disney last week forecast Hulu’s subscribers to reach 40 million to 60 million by fiscal 2024 and become profitable in the United States by either 2023 or 2024.</s>(Reuters) - Hulu has bought back wireless carrier AT&T Inc's stake in the U.S. entertainment streaming service for $1.43 billion, in a deal that values Hulu at $15 billion, the two companies said on Monday.

The sale of AT&T's 9.5 percent stake to Hulu in a cash deal gives Walt Disney Co, which holds a 60 percent stake in Hulu via a joint venture, more control of the company.

Comcast Corp's NBCUniversal has a 30 percent stake in Hulu. Based on the joint venture agreement, Disney and Comcast will decide how they want to allocate the shares bought from AT&T.

Hulu, which competes with Netflix Inc and Amazon.com's Prime Video, has more than 25 million subscribers and is expected to lose $1.5 billion in the current fiscal year.

Hulu's total value has now risen from a reported $5.8 billion in 2016, when Time Warner - now a part of AT&T - bought the stake. Netflix at the time had a market capitalisation of about $41 billion. Based on Monday's stock market closing price, Netflix is valued at $152 billion.

It was unclear how the deal could affect content on Hulu in the immediate future. AT&T is preparing to launch its own subscription streaming video service.

"WarnerMedia will remain a valued partner to Hulu for years to come as we offer customers the best of TV, live and on demand, all in one place," Hulu Chief Executive Officer Randy Freer said in a statement.

AT&T said it would use the proceeds from the deal to reduce debt, which stood at $176.5 billion at the end of 2018.

The company had said in November it could consider selling its stake in Hulu and review its non-core assets in 2019.

The transaction did not require any governmental or other third-party approvals and was simultaneously signed and closed, Hulu and AT&T said.

Disney last week forecast Hulu's subscribers to reach 40 million to 60 million by fiscal 2024 and the company would become profitable in the United States by 2023 or 2024.

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.

Your guide to the latest election news, analysis, commentary, live updates and schedule for Lok Sabha Elections 2019 on firstpost.com/elections. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram or like our Facebook page for updates from all 543 constituencies for the upcoming general elections.</s>(Reuters) - Hulu has bought back wireless carrier AT&T Inc’s stake in the U.S. entertainment streaming service for $1.43 billion, in a deal that values Hulu at $15 billion, the two companies said on Monday.

The sale of AT&T’s 9.5 percent stake to Hulu in a cash deal gives Walt Disney Co, which holds a 60 percent stake in Hulu via a joint venture, more control of the company.

Comcast Corp’s NBCUniversal has a 30 percent stake in Hulu. Based on the joint venture agreement, Disney and Comcast will decide how they want to allocate the shares bought from AT&T.

Hulu, which competes with Netflix Inc and Amazon.com’s Prime Video, has more than 25 million subscribers and is expected to lose $1.5 billion in the current fiscal year.

Hulu’s total value has risen from a reported $5.8 billion in 2016, when Time Warner - now a part of AT&T - bought the stake. Netflix at the time had a market capitalisation of about $41 billion. Based on Monday’s stock market closing price, Netflix is valued at $152 billion.

AT&T, which is preparing to launch its own subscription streaming video service later this year, said that its unit WarnerMedia would continue to work with Hulu to deliver content over the platform. It did not give further details.

“WarnerMedia will remain a valued partner to Hulu for years to come as we offer customers the best of TV, live and on demand, all in one place,” Hulu Chief Executive Officer Randy Freer said in a statement.

AT&T said it would use the proceeds from the deal to reduce debt, which stood at $176.5 billion at the end of 2018.

The company had said in November it could consider selling its stake in Hulu and review its non-core assets in 2019.

The transaction did not require any governmental or other third-party approvals and was simultaneously signed and closed, Hulu and AT&T said.

Disney last week forecast Hulu’s subscribers to reach 40 million to 60 million by fiscal 2024 and for the company to become profitable in the United States by 2023 or 2024.</s>Hulu is buying back AT&T's minority stake in the streaming service for $1.43 billion, the two companies said Monday.

The transaction values the streaming service, which competes with Netflix and Amazon, at $15 billion.

The telecommunications giant is loaded down with $171 billion in debt, following its $85 billion acquisition of Time Warner in June of 2018. AT&T has been looking for ways to shed non-core assets and reduce its debt load.

The sale of AT&T's 9.5% stake in Hulu won't impact the streaming service's long-term agreements to carry WarnerMedia's networks on its Hulu+ Live TV service which include TBS, Cartoon Network and TNT.

"WarnerMedia will remain a valued partner to Hulu for years to come as we offer customers the best of TV, live and on demand, all in one place,” Hulu CEO Randy Freer said in a statement.

The Walt Disney Co. gained a controlling interest in Hulu with its acquisition of most of 21st Century Fox's film and television assets. It shares an ownership stake with Comcast's NBCUniversal.

The two owners will determine how to divvy up AT&T's share in Hulu, sources say.

The decade-old Hulu service has 25 million subscribers, and is expected to lose about $1.5 billion this year. Disney expects it to break even by 2024, as it expands to new markets and grows its subscriber base to an estimated 40 to 60 million subscribers.
AT&T Inc. sells its 10% stake in Hulu to Hulu LLC for $1.43 billion.