Airtel | Google
Airtel shareholders clear Google's investment in company
Mumbai: Bharti Airtel shareholders have given their nod to the issue of equity shares by the firm to Google on “a preferential basis” after the US-based tech giant’s recent acquisition of a 1.28 percent stake in the telco for $700 million.
They have also cleared the telco’s roadmap to spend a mammoth Rs 1.17 lakh-crore in related-party expenses, including opex, via joint venture, Indus Towers, and subsidiaries – Nxtra Data and Bharti Hexacom – over the next four years.
“The resolutions (as part of special businesses) were approved with a 99.99% overwhelming majority at Airtel’s extraordinary general meeting (EGM) on February 26,” the Sunil Mittal-led telco said in an exchange filing.
In January, Bharti Airtel and Google are going to partner to boost India's digital ecosystem with the US-based tech giant investing up to $1 billion under its Google for India Digitization Fund.
This included Google's acquisition of 1.28 percent ownership in Airtel with a $700 million equity investment at a price per share of Rs 734.
Further, Google's investment in Airtel will include up to $300 million that will go towards implementing commercial agreements, which will include investments in scaling Airtel’s offerings that cover 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.
A senior Airtel executive also said that the telco’s Rs 1.17 lakh-crore material related-party expenses, including opex spends over the next four years, would include Rs 88,000 crore in business with tower JV, Indus, Rs 15,000 crore for availing the services of data-centre arm, Nxtra and related-party transactions of up to Rs 14,000 crore with Bharti Hexacom, an Economic Times report stated.
Google’s investment is also expected to boost Airtel’s war chest as India’s second-largest carrier readies to participate in the upcoming 5G airwaves sale likely around May-June, and subsequent network rollouts, according to the analysts, the report added.
On Friday, Airtel announced the acquisition of a 4.7 percent stake in Indus from Vodafone Group Plc in cash, which will increase its holding in the tower company to 46.43 percent.
Support Our Journalism
We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism
IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.
