The E-commerce giant, Amazon, is reportedly eyeing a $2 billion stake in Bharti Airtel, roughly 5% of the Company’s current market value. The investment will not only boost India’s digital economy but also make Bharti Airtel more competitive against incumbent Reliance Jio.
However, sources told Reuters that talks of the investment are at the infancy stage. Therefore, the terms of the deal could change, or the two firms may never reach an agreement.
Share price of Bharti Airtel closed at 3.8% higher upon the news.
Nonetheless, both companies are yet to confirm the planned investment, labeling it as a speculation.
“In this regard, it is clarified the Company routinely works with all digital and OTT players and has a deep engagement with them to bring their products, content, and services for our wide customer base. Beyond that, there is, at this stage, no such proposal in consideration,” read Telecom’s statement on Livemint.
Big tech companies are showing increasing interest in the Indian e-commerce market projected to grow to $150 billion by 2023. In April, Facebook invested $5.7 billion in leading telecom Reliance Jio for a 9.99% stake seeking to establish itself as one-stop digital e-commerce. Similarly, Google is in talks to acquire a 5% stake in Vodafone, the second-largest telecom operator in India.
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