Amazon to buy stack in Bharti Airtel

Mumbai: Online retail giant Amazon.com is in early-stage talks to buy a stake worth at least $2 billion in mobile operator Airtel, three sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters, underscoring the growing attraction of India’s digital economy for U.S. tech giants.

The planned investment, if completed, would mean Amazon acquiring a roughly 5 percent stake based on the current market value of Bharti, which is India’s third-largest telecoms company with more than 300 million subscribers.

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.