Google LLC, an American technology services company, will invest up to 1 billion USD in Bharti Airtel, parent company of Airtel Africa. The initiative is part of the strengthening of the Indian telecommunications operator’s digital offers.
In a press release sent to the press on Friday January 28, the two entities indicated that this agreement will be carried out in two tranches.
First, the American web giant will take a USD 700 million stake in Airtel (at a price of USD 9.77 per share). Next, the company will take another $300 million stake for the implementation of business deals, including investments in scaling Airtel’s offerings.
This transaction will be subject to the approval of the competent regulatory authorities and the shareholders. The deal comes months after Airtel raised up to $3 billion through a sale of shares to existing shareholders.
For two years, Google has shown its intention to invest up to $10 billion in India through its digitization fund. With this in mind, the American company injected $4.5 billion into the digital unit of conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd, Jio Platforms, in July 2020.
