AT&T has been one of Mexico's biggest carriers for over a decade, but that's about to come to an end. The company has announced that it has reached an agreement to sell AT&T Mexico to Grupo Televisa and Fintech Holdings for $2 billion in cash at closing, "subject to certain adjustments", plus "additional contractual and contingent benefits".
The buyer is a consortium owned 50/50 by Televisa and Fintech, which plans to pay with a combination of cash on hand and debt financing. What it's getting is Mexico's second-largest mobile operator, with about 24.7 million wireless subscribers at the end of last year. Televisa already has a fixed-line broadband business in the country, so the deal will let it offer mobile service alongside that.
AT&T got into Mexico back in 2015, when it bought Iusacell and Nextel Mexico and merged them under the AT&T brand. Now, it says the sale is part of its long-term strategy of focusing its spending on growth opportunities in what it calls the "vibrant US market" - which in practice means fiber and wireless networks at home. CEO John Stankey also took the opportunity to point out the company's belief that the AI future will run on converged networks and dense fiber.
The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2027, subject to regulatory approvals in Mexico. If you're an AT&T customer in the US, the company says nothing will change for you.