Warner Bros sale is off the table as AT&T decides it’s too valuable to sell

Much ado about nothing

The saga of AT&T shopping around Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment has seemingly come to an anticlimactic end. It’ll remain a part of the AT&T family, as it has too much upside to offload in exchange for paying down some debt.

This new information comes via Bloomberg, who has sources that state AT&T decided against the sale because WBIE is too valuable. This feels like confirmation after an August internal staff email had the WarnerMedia CEO say “Warner Bros Interactive remains a part of the Studios and Networks group.” 

A sale was an intriguing scenario, as Microsoft was rumored to be interested in buying the whole WBIE portfolio. That includes developers such as Rocksteady, Traveller’s Tales, Avalanche Software, NetherRealm, Monolith, and WB Montreal. Collectively, a sale was estimated to be valued around $4 billion.

The impetus for exploring the idea of selling WBIE is because AT&T reportedly has about $154 billion in debt after acquiring WarnerMedia and DirectTV. However, the video game unit is apparently staying put as AT&T opts against some fast cash to pay down a very small percentage of what it owes.

AT&T to Scrap Sale of Warner Bros. Video-Game Unit [Bloomberg]