Sony has agreed to buy anime streaming platform Crunchyroll from At&T for $1.2 billion in an all-cash deal.
Crunchyroll is currently in AT&T's WarnerMedia division and the sale is part of its efforts to sell its DirectTV business.
The sale was announced in a joint press release published after AT&T's chief executive officer John Stankey said the company would sell more assets. Stankey told investors the company would continue to sell "tangential" assets distracting it from its core business.
AT&T has been trying to sell DirectTV - which has been losing subscribers to on-demand video streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu. AT&T bought WarnerMedia for $49 billion just five years ago.
In August, WarnerMedia executives announced an effort to prioritize streaming companies such as HBO Max. The company said during that time that the restructuring would likely result in thousands of layoffs and the divestment of underperforming digital products.
Crunchyroll currently has more than 90 million users in more than 200 countries. In the joint press statement, AT&T said that the platform had about 3 million paying subscribers. Apart from the distribution of anime movies and shows it distributes Japan manga, mobile games and anime merchandise.
Sony currently has its own anime distribution business. Sony is expected to merge Crunchyroll into its own distribution network as part of plans to be the world leader in anime distribution.
Sony has acquired several anime distributors in Europe and Australia. Sony wants to strengthen its presence in the anime industry as players such as Netflix increase efforts to gain market share.
Netflix is particularly aggressive as it not only distributes content but also commissions Netflix original anime movies and shows.
