Google to invest US$ 1 billion in Airtel; To buy 1.28% stake for 700 million USD
Highlight
- Google to invest USD 1 billion in telecom major Bharti Airtel
- Google invests as part of its Google for India Digitization Fund
- Bharti Airtel’s board has approved issuance of equity shares up to 71,176,839
Internet giant Google will invest USD 1 billion in telecom major Bharti Airtel which includes equity investment as well as a fund for potential commercial agreements, identified and agreed upon on mutually agreed terms during the next five years. Will go Google has made this investment as part of its Google for India Digitization Fund.
“This will include an equity investment of $700 million in Bharti Airtel at a price of Rs 734 per share,” Airtel said in a statement.
Of the total investment, USD 300 million will go towards implementing commercial agreements, which will include investments in expanding Airtel’s offerings, including a range of devices to consumers through innovative affordability programs as well as other offerings. , which aims to accelerate access and digital inclusion across India. digital ecosystem.
“As part of the larger strategic goals of the partnership, the two companies will potentially co-create India-specific network domain use cases for 5G and other standards with state-of-the-art implementations,” the statement said.
Bharti Airtel board has approved the issuance of 71,176,839 equity shares of face value of Rs 5 each to Google International LLC on a preferential basis for Rs 5,224.3 crore (approximately USD 700 million) at Rs 734 per equity share of the company. ,
“Airtel and Google share a vision to grow India’s digital dividend through innovative products. With our future-ready network, digital platform, last-mile delivery and payments ecosystem, we are looking to build on the depth and breadth of India’s digital Look forward to working closely with Google to widen the ecosystem,” Sunil Bharti Mittal, President, Bharti Airtel said in the statement.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai in July 2020 announced a US$10 billion Google for India Digitization Fund to help accelerate India’s digital economy. Following this, the internet major invested Rs 33,737 crore (about USD 4.5 billion) to buy a 7.73 per cent stake in Jio Platforms, just days after the fund was announced.
Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet and Google, said, “Our commercial and equity investment in Airtel will help increase access to smartphones, enhance connectivity to support new business models and help companies in their digital transformation journey through our Google for India Digitization. There is a continuation of the fund’s efforts.” ,
As part of the larger strategic goals of the partnership, the two companies will work on co-creating India-specific use cases for 5G and other standards.
“Airtel is already using Google’s 5G-ready developed packet core and software defined network platform, and is looking to enhance the deployment of Google’s network virtualization solutions to provide better network experiences to its customers,” the statement said. is planning.”
As part of their first commercial agreement, Airtel and Google will work together to build Airtel’s comprehensive offerings, covering a range of Android-enabled devices, to consumers through innovative affordability programs.
“Together, companies will continue to explore further opportunities to reduce the odds of owning a smartphone in partnership with various device manufacturers,” the statement said.
The commercial setup includes the development of the cloud ecosystem in India which is one of the strategic interest areas and business drivers for Google.
This partnership will enable Google to reach over 1 million small and medium businesses that are currently served by Airtel. Google has already partnered with Jio to help them develop low-cost Android devices.
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