Google to invest USD 1 billion in Airtel; to buy 1.28 per cent stake for USD 700 million

New Delhi, January 28

Internet major Google will invest USD 1 billion in telecom major Bharti Airtel which includes equity investment as well as a corpus for potential commercial agreements, to be identified and agreed on mutually agreeable terms over the course of the next five years.

Google made the investment as part of its Google for India Digitisation Fund.

“This will comprise USD 700 million equity investment in Bharti Airtel at a price per share of Rs 734,” Airtel said in a statement.

Out of the total investment, USD 300 million will go towards implementing commercial agreements, which will include investments in scaling Airtel’s offerings that covers a range of devices to consumers via innovative affordability programs as well as other offerings aimed at accelerating access and digital inclusion across India’s digital ecosystem, it added.

“Under the larger strategic goals of the partnership, both companies will also potentially co-create India-specific network domain use cases for 5G and other standards, with cutting-edge implementations,” the statement said.