AT&T has sold its Japanese outsourcing business to local telco and IT services firm IIJ for $100 million.
AT&T said it would transfer its domestic outsourcing services, including approximately 1,600 domestic Japanese business customers and approximately 250 AT&T employees who support these customers.
The sale price is approximately ¥9.2 billion, or just over $100 million, based on the exchange rate on May 31, AT&T said in a statement.
The outsourcing business is forecast to generate around $300 million in sales this year.
Once the deal closes – expected in September – AT&T also plans to exercise an option buy NTT Communications’ 15% stake in AT&T Japan.
IIJ described the outsourcing unit as mainly a WAN services business with 1,600 domestic corporate customers.
AT&T said it would continue to serve multinational corporations in Japan following the sale, which it said did not involve its infrastructure business.
The new company will purchase global connectivity services from AT&T.
The US giant operates four global network service nodes, remote access infrastructure, a data center and several subsea cables in Japan. AT&T also offers hosting, mobile enterprise apps, cloud computing, security, and UC services.
“We intend to maintain a strong presence in Japan, but it makes strategic sense for us to sell our domestic customer base and supporting operations in Japan to IIJ,” said Bernard Yee, vice president AT&T Asia Pacific.