(Bloomberg) -- Media companies including AT&T Inc. and ViacomCBS Inc. are pressing the pause button on asset sales worth more than $5 billion because of the global coronavirus pandemic, according to people familiar with the matter.

AT&T’s auction of four regional sports networks, ViacomCBS’s offloading of its publishing arm and closely-held Ion Media Networks Inc.’s $3.5 billion sale process have been held up amid a downturn in financing markets, the people said, asking not to be identified as the matter is private.

ViacomCBS was poised to kick off its sale process for the Simon & Schuster publishing division right before the crisis hit the U.S. ViacomCBS Chief Executive Officer Bob Bakish announced the plan in early March at an investor conference.

The company had expected the business to fetch more than $1.2 billion, Bloomberg News had earlier reported. It’s unclear when ViacomCBS will relaunch the sales process, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter is private. A ViacomCBS representative declined to comment.

AT&T has put on hold its sale of regional sports networks, which includes rights to teams such as hockey’s Pittsburgh Penguins, basketball’s Houston Rockets and baseball’s Seattle Mariners, the people said. AT&T had been seeking close to $1 billion for the assets. Live sports have taken a major hit as professional leagues have suspended play. An AT&T representative declined to comment.

Ion, which had hired advisers this year to sell itself, is also facing delays, according to people familiar with the matter. The company’s owner, hedge fund Black Diamond Capital Management, had been working on a potential $3.5 billion sales process, including debt, according to people familiar with the matter. Representatives for Ion and Black Diamond couldn’t be reached for comment.

Ion has 70 stations in markets including Atlanta, Boston, New York and Chicago that reach more than 100 million homes, according to its website. An ad-based independent broadcaster, it primarily airs reruns of shows with no local news or sports.

Broadcaster Gray Television Inc. last week pulled out of the auction for Tegna Inc. citing the coronavirus, although a number of other bidders are continuing to conduct due diligence on the company, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Najafi Cos., a private equity firm, last week said it’s teaming up with faith-based broadcaster Trinity Broadcasting Network to make an offer of $20 a share in cash for Tegna. Apollo Global Management Inc. and TV producer Byron Allen also remain interested.

Some smaller deals in the space are also getting done. FuboTV Inc., backed by 21st Century Fox Inc. and AMC Networks Inc., merged with FaceBank Group Inc., on Monday. FuboTV Chief Executive Officer David Gandler said the company wants to sell shares on the Nasdaq exchange as soon as possible so investors can have access to more “stay at home” stocks besides Netflix Inc. and Roku Inc.

Deal activity across all sectors have been hit by the virus-induced market turmoil, with the volume of M&A and investment deals sinking 23% to $383 billion in the U.S. this year compared with the same period in 2019, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

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