AT&T Holds Onto Xandr Amid WarnerMedia/Discovery Mega Merger

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AT&T began exploring the sale of its advanced advertising and data unit last year

Xandr
(Image credit: Xandr)

As AT&T abruptly pivots from the media business with its somewhat shocking deal to spin off and merge WarnerMedia with Discovery Inc., it's conspicuously holding onto one asset: Xandr.

The advanced advertising unit, formerly known as AppNexus, was purchased by AT&T for $1.6 billion in 2018 as a complementary piece to the $85 billion Time Warner Inc. acquisition, meant to monetize and justify that larger media acquisition. 

AppNexus was absorbed into AT&T’s legacy addressable TV business AdWorks, and its core products were rebranded as Xandr Invest (DSP) and Xandr Monetize (SSP), noted AdExchanger, which reported earlier that AT&T was hanging onto Xandr.

Last year, Xandr CEO Brian Lesser and other senior executives left the company, and the unit's platform and media assets were split up, with the media assets merged into WarnerMedia. 

Spending on Xandr has reportedly soared of late, driven by connected TV. But AT&T started exploring the sale of the unit last year. 

On Monday morning, AT&T announced its intention to spin off WarnerMedia and merge it with Discovery for $43 billion in a combination of cash and debt securities.

Daniel Frankel
Daniel Frankel

Daniel Frankel is the managing editor of Next TV, an internet publishing vertical focused on the business of video streaming. A Los Angeles-based writer and editor who has covered the media and technology industries for more than two decades, Daniel has worked on staff for publications including E! Online, Electronic Media, Mediaweek, Variety, paidContent and GigaOm. You can start living a healthier life with greater wealth and prosperity by following Daniel on Twitter today!