The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved Google International LLC’s buy of 1.28 per cent stake in Bharti Airtel. According to the agreement signed between the two firms, Google will buy the aforesaid stake in Airtel for $700 million and invest $300 million over the next five years in commercial arrangements in the areas of affordable mobile devices, 5G network and cloud technologies.
According to an official release, the deal has been cleared on the basis of modifications offered by the acquirer. Meanwhile, as per the exchange filing, Airtel will sell shares to Google at Rs 734 per piece. Along with the investment agreement, both companies through their affiliates have also entered into certain commercial deals. Moreover, the parties also intend to enter into certain other commercial arrangements in future.
With this investment, Google aims at developing the digital infrastructure in India, which will, in turn, generate demand for its products and services, including cloud computing, mobile devices, apps and digital advertisements.
