AT&T Looks to Ditch Debt Throne in $43 Billion Deleveraging Push
- Telecom giant may no longer be largest borrower after merger
- Discovery deal to accelerate leverage goal timeline by a year
Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg
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AT&T Inc. was once the poster child for firms willing to sacrifice their credit ratings for the sake of debt-fueled acquisitions. Now, the company is making its biggest push yet to cut debt and ditch its long-held status as the world’s largest borrower.
The telecom giant will reduce net debt by $43 billion as a part of a plan to spin off its media operations in a deal with Discovery Inc., according to an investor presentation accompanying the announcement. If its gross debt of $190 billion declines by roughly the same amount, AT&T would drop behind Verizon Communications Inc. in the rankings of the most indebted non-financial companies globally, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.