AT&T Will Spin Off Warner Media in a $43 Billion Discovery Merger
AT&T said on Tuesday it will spin off WarnerMedia in a $43 billion transaction to merge its media properties with Discovery and also cut its dividend by nearly half.
AT&T shareholders will own 71% of the new Warner Bros. Discovery company and will receive 0.24 shares of Warner Bros. Discovery for each AT&T share they own. AT&T will have 7.2 billion diluted shares outstanding after the transaction closes.
The U.S. telecoms group will pay a dividend of $1.11 per share, down from $2.08 per share. This is at the lower end of an $8 billion to $9 billion range AT&T had forecast earlier.