Amazon likely to buy $2b stakes of Bharti Airtel

WASHINGTON: According to a report, Amazon is in early-stage talks to buy a stake worth $2 billion in Bharti Airtel, foreign media reported. Amid reports of US-retail giant Amazon looking at investing at least $2 billion in it, Bharti Airtel on Thursday said the company routinely works with digital players to bring their services to customers, but has “no other activity to report”. According to a report by Reuters, Amazon is in early-stage talks to buy a stake worth $2 billion in Bharti Airtel. If the investment goes through, Amazon will end up owning 5% in the mobile services provider. “We routinely work with all digital and OTT players and have deep engagement with them to bring their products, content and services for our wide customer base. Beyond that there is no other activity to report,” Bharti Airtel said in a statement. When reached out, an Amazon India spokesperson said, “We don't comment on speculation about what we may or may not do in future.” The news comes after Mukesh Ambani’s Jio Platforms raised ?78,562 crore in one month from five investors including Facebook, Silver Lake, Vista, General Atlantic and KKR. Additionally, technology giant Google is also said to be mulling picking up a minority stake in the beleaguered Vodafone Idea. Following the news, Bharti Airtel scrip closed 5.73% or ?31.60 higher on the NSE at ?83.25 per share.

“The talks between Bharti and Amazon are at an early stage and the deal terms could change, or an agreement may not be reached, said two of the three sources, all of whom declined to be identified because the discussions are confidential,” a Reuters report said.