AT&T (T): Agrees to sell its Mexico mobile business for $2 billion

AT&T has agreed to sell AT&T Mexico, its mobile phone business in Mexico, for US$2 billion to a 50-50 venture of Grupo Televisa and Fintech Holdings. The unit has about 24.7 million customers but made an operating profit of only about 1.4 billion pesos on 85.4 billion pesos of sales in 2025. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2027, if Mexican regulators approve.

What happened

On Tuesday 13 October 2026, AT&T agreed to sell AT&T Mexico, its wireless telecommunications business in Mexico, to a consortium owned 50% each by Grupo Televisa, the Mexican cable and satellite group listed in New York under the ticker TV, and Fintech Holdings, an investment company owned by the Mexican investor David Martínez. The price is US$2 billion, subject to adjustments, according to Televisa's press release filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The Associated Press reports that AT&T also described additional contractual and contingent benefits, which are not given a number. The buyers expect to pay with cash on hand and with non-recourse debt, meaning loans secured only on the business being bought, so lenders cannot claim the buyers' other assets.

Closing is expected in the first quarter of 2027, once regulators have approved. As reported by the Associated Press, AT&T chairman and chief executive John Stankey said the sale fits the company's plan to direct its money to growth in the United States, where it is concentrating on fibre broadband and 5G mobile networks. We could not open AT&T's own release, so AT&T's statements come from press reports of it; the terms and figures come from Televisa's filings.

The numbers, explained

The figures below come from the information statement Televisa filed on 13 October, and are AT&T México's own results in Mexican pesos under Mexican accounting standards. Sales in 2025 were 85,363.6 million pesos, up from 77,900.6 million in 2024. Our working: the rise is 7,463.0 million pesos, which is 9.6% (7,463.0 divided by 77,900.6). Telephony service revenue, the monthly charges and usage fees, was 42,376.6 million pesos (up 9.1%). Equipment sales, mostly handsets, were 31,984.5 million (up 10.6%). Interconnection, the fees other networks pay to carry their calls, was 7,635.2 million (down 3.6%). Handsets are 37.5% of sales (31,984.5 divided by 85,363.6). Customers on monthly contracts, called postpaid, numbered 6.8 million and brought in 54% of service revenue.

Profit is thin. Operating income, the profit from running the business before interest and tax, was 1,373.6 million pesos in 2025 against a loss of 524.2 million in 2024. That is a margin of 1.6% (1,373.6 divided by 85,363.6), or about 1.6 pesos kept from every 100 pesos of sales. After interest and other items the unit still made a net loss of 1,433.8 million pesos, which is 58.2% smaller than the 3,431.8 million loss of 2024 (1,998.0 divided by 3,431.8). On price, $2,000 million divided by 24.7 million customers is about $81 a customer. The buyers plan up to $1.4 billion of debt: a term loan of up to $1.2 billion plus a revolving credit line of up to $200 million, which can be borrowed, repaid and borrowed again. Fully used, that is 70% of the price (1.4 divided by 2.0), leaving $0.6 billion from the owners. That last step is our arithmetic; the price may be adjusted and the debt may not be fully drawn. The bank, BBVA México, has not yet signed its commitment letter.

Why it matters

AT&T Mexico earns money from customers' monthly plans, from selling handsets and from fees paid by other networks. AT&T built the business by buying Iusacell in 2014 and Nextel México in 2015, according to the Associated Press. Televisa's filing calls the unit Mexico's second-largest mobile operator and says it runs its own nationwide network on about 233 MHz of radio spectrum, the airwaves that carry mobile signals. We have not seen what gain or loss AT&T expects, so we draw no conclusion about its overall results.

For Televisa, which sells cable television, broadband and satellite television, the deal adds a 50% interest in a company with its own mobile network. It will record this as a joint venture using the equity method, which means it shows its share of the unit's profit or loss on one line instead of adding up all the sales. The purchase follows Televisa's issue of convertible debentures on 3 June 2026 (loans that turn into shares after a year; once converted they would equal 19.48% of its capital), and a cut by the rating agency Moody's on 12 June 2026 of its credit rating to Ba2 from Ba1. Both facts come from the Televisa filing.

What to watch next

AT&T is due to report its third-quarter 2026 results on Wednesday 21 October, before the New York market opens, with a call at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time, according to the company's announcement. Further facts to follow: the approval of Mexico's National Antitrust Commission and other authorities, the signing of the BBVA México commitment letter and of the shareholders' agreement between Televisa and Fintech, and the closing, which the buyers expect in the first quarter of 2027. The size of the price adjustments and of the contingent benefits has not been published.

• Key terms in plain words
• Non-recourse debt: a loan that can be repaid only from the business it financed, not from the owners' other assets.
• Equity method: accounting that shows a share of a joint venture's profit or loss on one line.
• Operating income: profit from running the business before interest and tax.
• Spectrum: the radio airwaves that carry mobile signals.

Sources

• Grupo Televisa Form 6-K, press release: Grupo Televisa and Fintech Agree to Acquire AT&T Mexico (SEC)
• Grupo Televisa Form 6-K, Information Statement on Corporate Reorganization (SEC)
• Associated Press via 93.3 The Drive: AT&T sells Mexico unit to Televisa, Fintech for $2 billion
• Advanced Television: AT&T selling AT&T Mexico for $2bn
• Rio Times: AT&T Sells Mexico Unit for US$2 Billion