Google's 1.28% stake purchase in Bharti Airtel cleared by CCI

1 Jul 2022 , 09:50 AM

The Competition Commission of India has approved a combination involving Google International LLC’s proposed acquisition of a minority and non-controlling stake of 1.28% of equity capital of Bharti Airtel Limited (target).

Google International LLC (Acquirer) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Google LLC. Google LLC is a Delaware limited liability company and wholly owned subsidiary of Alphabet Inc.

Google offers various products and services, including its flagship search service, its Android operating system, and its Play app store.

Bharti Airtel Limited, headquartered in India, is an international communications solutions provider with over 480 million customers in 17 countries across South Asia and Africa.

The Acquirer and Target have executed an Investment Agreement per which the Google proposes to acquire a minority and non-controlling stake of 1.28% of equity share capital in the Bharti Airtel.

“Along with the IA, the Acquirer and the Target through their affiliates have also entered into certain commercial deals. The Parties also intend to enter into certain other commercial arrangements in future.

The CCI approved the proposed combination on the basis of modifications offered by the Acquirer”, an official release said.

At around 9:53 AM, Bharti Airtel was trading at Rs678.40 per share down by Rs5.5 or 0.8% from its previous closing of Rs683.90 per share on the BSE.