Bharti Enterprises wins bid for OneWeb

Bharti Enterprises will provide the company commercial and operational leadership, and bring OneWeb a revenue base to contribute towards its future success.

 

The UK government's Business Secretary Alok Sharma confirmed that the government will invest $500 million and take a significant equity share in OneWeb alongside $500 million from Bharti Global.

 

The deal will enable OneWeb to complete construction of a global satellite constellation that will provide enhanced broadband and other services to mobile and fixed terminals in countries around the world. OneWeb founded in 2014 by entrepreneur Greg Wyler, makes so-called low-earth orbit satellites that provide high-speed broadband communications.

 

Bharti was one of the founding members of OneWeb and had a strategic stake in the company.

Bharti Enterprises is the holding company of Bharti Airtel, India’s second largest telco, which has a market cap of over Rs 3.17 lakh-crore at its closing share price of Rs 581.10 on BSE.

Herbert Smith Freehills LLP served as the legal counsel and Standard Chartered Bank acted as the financial adviser to Bharti Global Ltd.

 

“I am delighted Bharti will be leading the effort to deliver the promise of universal broadband connectivity through OneWeb, with the active support and participation of the British Government,” Bharti Enterprises chairman Sunil Mittal said in an official statement.