After making large investments in Jio, Google is now planning to invest money in Airtel. The companies have reportedly reached an advanced stage of discussion. It is believed that Google will make “substantial investments, running into several thousands of crores of rupees”. The companies have been in talks for the past year. Notably, Airtel had a debt of nearly Rs 1.6 lakh crore in June. So if the deal between Google and Airtel materialises, it would be a huge breather for Sunil Mittal-led telecom company.

As per a Times of India report, Google is on its way to make investments worth thousands of crores in Airtel. It is reported that Google is in an “advanced stage of negotiations” with Airtel for the “past nearly one year”, and the deal size could be “substantially large”. Google and Airtel have not made any formal announcements related to the supposed deal but top sources who are aware of the developments have told TOI.

“The entry of Google adds strength to the balance sheet of Airtel. Also, it helps the company strategically as Google brings in innovation capabilities and strength on data analytics. Google’s data monetisation is far superior to any other company in the world, and it can help Airtel monetize its data much better to improve its realisations and profitability,” a top analyst told TOI about the Google-Airtel deal.

The analyst further said that Google would need strong reasons to make an entry to Airtel. “If anything goes wrong tomorrow, your (Google) credibility in the market goes out even though it will be limited liability. To save its name, the company will have to settle its dues in case Airtel is not able to move ahead due to financial pressures and starts slipping down,” he was quoted by the publication as saying.

Google had invested a whopping Rs 33,737 crore in Reliance industries digital subsidiary, Jio Platforms Ltd. Google currently holds a 7.73% stake in Jio Platforms. Jio is a hot property amongst investors, companies like Facebook have invested massive amounts in the company. Such investments have helped the company in erasing their debt ahead of the March 2021 target.

https://www.indiatoday.in/technology/news/story/google-likely-to-invest-thousands-of-crores-in-airtel-after-investing-rs-34-000-crore-in-reliance-jio-1846426-2021-08-28