Us telecom giant AT&T plans to sell cyber security unit

CTOnews.com, February 22 (Xinhua)-- AT&T, the second largest mobile operator in the United States, is considering selling its network security unit, according to Reuters.

After buying time Warner for $108.7 billion in 2018, AT&T has carried out a series of divestitures to repay debt, and the sale of its cyber security business could be the latest divestiture by AT&T.

Over the past two years, AT&T has sold a 30 per cent stake in its pay-TV division DirecTV to private equity firm TPG for $1.8 billion (currently about RMB 12.384 billion) and acquired $40.4 billion (currently about RMB 277.952 billion) in cash by spinning off Warner's media business and merging it with Discovery to form Warner Brothers Discovery.

AT&T has been working with Barclays to look for potential bids for its cyber security business, according to sources. The business was called Alienvault when it was acquired in 2018 for about $600 million (currently about 4.128 billion yuan). It is not clear how much the business will sell.

AT&T 's network security division helps small and medium-sized businesses secure information technology networks, including laptops, desktops, servers and mobile devices.

It is important to note that sources warn that the deal is uncertain. AT&T and Barclays declined to comment.