AT&T reportedly eyeing sale of its cybersecurity unit

AT&T Inc. is reportedly exploring a possible sale of its cybersecurity unit, and this was shared by people who are familiar with the matter. The sale may also result in the cancellation of an acquisition agreement that was completed five years ago.

According to Reuters, the sale of the American telecom firm's cybersecurity business will be an addition to its series of divestments. It was noted that AT&T has turned to sell its assets to pay debts after it acquired Time Warner Inc. in 2018 for $108.7 billion. The deal has since been loosened up as well.

In the last two years, the company unloaded a 30% stake in its DirecTV pay streaming unit. This was sold to TPG's private equity firm for $1.8 billion. On top of this, it received a total of $40.4 billion in cash by spinning off and consolidating its Warner Media business with Discovery Communications which has formed Warner Bros Discovery Inc.

Based on the report, AT&T is working with Barclays Plc to look for potential bids for its cybersecurity division which it calls Alienvault. This was acquired in 2018 for around $600 million. If the company will push through with the sale, its value now may have increased but is not clear how much it could fetch today.

Then again, insiders said that they are sharing this information while requesting not to reveal their identities because it is not yet certain if AT&T will push through with the sale. Plus, the deal is still confidential at this stage.

AT&T and Barclays were contacted for comments regarding the news but they both declined to speak. The company's cybersecurity unit provides services to small-to-medium-sized businesses. It helps them keep their information technology networks, such as desktops, laptops, mobile devices, and servers secured.

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