AT&T has agreed to sell Central European Media Enterprises (CME) to Czech investment firm PPF Group N.V. for approximately $1.1 billion.
CME has broadcast operations in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.
The sale is part of AT&T’s strategy to monetize non-strategic assets in order to reduce its debt. AT&T aims to reach a net debt-to-adjusted EBITDA ratio in the 2.5x range by the end of this year.
AT&T acquired its stake in CME with the acquisition of Time Warner, now WarnerMedia, in 2018. PPF’s acquisition of CME is expected to be completed during the second quarter of 2020.
Earlier, AT&T agreed to a sale-leaseback of its remaining domestic company-owned wireless towers to Peppertree Capital Management in a deal valued at up to $680 million. Peppertree will buy more than 1,000 AT&T towers, and AT&T will lease back capacity on the towers from Peppertree.
