It has been known from sources that Amazon is in early-stage of talks to buy a stake worth at least $2 billion in mobile operator Bharti Airtel. If the investment is done then Amazon will acquire a roughly 5% stake based on the current market value of Bharti.
The discussions between Amazon and Bharti come at a time when global players are placing major bets on the digital arm of Reliance Industries, which owns Bharti's telecom rival Jio. Reliance's digital unit has raised $10 billion in recent weeks from Facebook, KKR and others.
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.
An Amazon spokeswoman said the company does not offer comments on speculation of what we may or may not do in future. Bharti said they routinely work with all digital players to bring their products, content and services to customers. Beyond that there is no other activity to report.
Amazon counts India as a crucial growth market where it has committed $6.5 billion in investments mainly toward expanding its e-commerce footprint.
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