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  • Amazon in talks with Airtel to acquire stake

    Amazon in talks with Airtel to acquire stake

    MUMBAI: The Indian telecom industry may become a hotbed of deep-pocket foreign investors as  Amazon is reportedly in early-stage talks to buy a stake worth at least $2 billion in Bharti Airtel.

    According to a Reuters' report, if talks go well, Amazon will be acquiring a roughly five per cent stake based on the current market value of Airtel. Recently, Facebook invested Rs 43,574 crore in Jio Platforms. In addition to that, Google is also considering to buy a five per cent  stake in Indian telecommunications provider Vodafone Idea.

    According to the report, the talks between Bharti and Amazon are at an early stage and the deal terms could change. There are even chances that the talks will not come to fruition.

    "We routinely work with all digital and OTT players and have deep engagement with them to bring their products, content and services for our wide customer base. Beyond that there is no other activity to report," Airtel said in a statement.
     

  • Reliance Jio makes a punt on tech start-ups

    Reliance Jio makes a punt on tech start-ups

    MUMBAI: After closing Saavn and Embibe deals, Reliance Jio, according to a report published by The Economic Times, is now looking to acquire Indian start-ups in the technology ecosystem.

    In a bid to take on its competition, Reliance Jio is now looking to invest more to create a comprehensive ecosystem of digital products and services around its core telecom service.

    To add more relevant entertainment and education content to its Jio platform, the company is looking to invest in or acquire start-ups operating in the content, healthcare, education technology, financial technology and transportation segments. It might also look at Jio aligning with product technology ventures, particularly those operating in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML).

    In April, Reliance Jio Music and Saavn leveraged their synergies to jointly strengthen their foothold in the Indian music streaming market. The combined value of the companies has been pegged at $1 billion, out of which Jio Music’s implied valuation is $670 million leaving Saavn at a valuation of $330 million. With this, Reliance also acquired a partial stake in Saavn from its existing shareholders for $104 million.

    Also, soon after this, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) agreed to invest over $180 Mn into AI-based education platform, Embibe over the next three years. This will put RIL in a position to buy out around 72.69% stake from Embibe’s existing investors including Lightbox and Kalaari Capital.

    Leading Jio’s charge into the start-up ecosystem is Akash Ambani, the 27-year-old Brown University-educated older son of Mukesh Ambani. Akash Ambani, chief of strategy at the company, is believed to be deeply involved in the negotiations.

    Also Read :

    Jio Music, Saavn to merge; RIL to invest $100 mn in combined entity

    Jio shifts focus to wired broadband