Jeff Bezos’ Amazon in talks to buy $2 billion stake in Bharti Airtel

Deal could help US firm expand in India

Amazon.com is in earlystage talks to buy a stake worth at least $2 billion in mobile operator Bharti Airtel, three people with knowledge of the discussions said, in a move that could turbocharge India’s digital economy.

The planned investment, if completed, would mean Amazon acquiring roughly 5 per cent stake based on the current market value of Bharti and would give India’s third-largest telecoms company a boost as it seeks to compete against the number one player Reliance Jio.

“Jio has transformed itself from a pure mobile operator to a digital technology-led consumer facing platform, and Airtel can do the same,” said one of the people.

“Airtel is looking to play a catch-up game here, and for Amazon it makes all the strategic directional sense for the India business.”

Amazon had been mulling several investment options, including buying a stake worth up to 8-10 per cent, a second person said.

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 people, all of whom declined to be identified as the discussions are confidential.

If talks to buy a stake fail, the companies could also look at a commercial transaction that could give Bharti’s customers cheap access to Amazon products, one of the people said.

An Amazon spokeswoman said the company does “not offer comments on speculation of what we may or may not do in future.”

Bharti said it routinely work with all digital players to bring its products, content and services to customers. “Beyond that there is no other activity to report,” it said.

Shares in Bharti closed 3.8 per cent higher after rising as much as 6 per cent on news of the Amazon talks. The broader NSE Nifty 50 index closed down 0.32 per cent.

The discussions between Amazon and Bharti underscore the attraction of India’s digital economy for US tech giants.

Over the past six weeks, Jio, the digital arm of Reliance Industries, raised $10 billion from global investors, including