Google, a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc., will invest up to $1 billion in Bharti Airtel in a move that might help the Indian telecom operator’s digital capabilities, according to a BSE filing on Friday.
According to the firms, the investment involves a USD 700 million equity investment in Airtel for 734 rupees (USD 9.77) per share and up to USD 300 million in commercial agreements, including investments in scaling Airtel’s offerings.
The share offer is subject to regulatory and shareholder clearance, and it comes months after Airtel raised 210 billion rupees from current shareholders through a share sale.
Following the announcement, Airtel’s stock rose 0.54 percent to 711 rupees.
Google declared less than two years ago that it would invest USD 10 billion in India over the next five to seven years through stock deals and tie-ups through its digitization fund.
In July 2020, Google invested USD 4.5 billion in Conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd’s digital unit Jio Platforms, which houses Airtel’s telecom rival Jio. In exchange, the US tech titan was given a seat on Jio’s board of directors. (One US dollar equals 75.1150 Indian rupees)
