AT&T sold its minority stake in Hulu back to the streaming video company for $1.43 billion, as part of a plan to offload non-essential assets and pay down debt.

The operator’s 9.5 per cent stake in Hulu was originally purchased by Time Warner in August 2016. AT&T subsequently acquired Time Warner in June 2018 in a blockbuster $85 billion deal.

Comcast and The Walt Disney Company remain stakeholders in the video service, with the latter holding a controlling interest.

Hulu CEO Randy Freer said despite the sale, AT&T will “remain a valued partner to Hulu for years to come”.

AT&T’s decision to sell its stake comes as it focuses on slashing $171 billion in remaining debt from the Time Warner deal and its $49 billion purchase of DirecTV in 2015.

The operator said proceeds from the sale, as well as from “additional planned sales of non-core assets,” will go to pay down its debt.

During an investor conference in March, AT&T CFO John Stephens said the company is confident in its ability to “generate $6 billion to $8 billion” in total from asset sales this year.

Earlier this year, the operator also raised $5 billion from the sale of unsecured bonds to put toward debt reduction.