Bharti Airtel on Tuesday acquired 70% stake in Bangladesh’s Warid Telecom. This follows Bangladesh’s regulator approving the deal last week.

Bharti will now invest $ 300 million in Warid Telecom’s Bangladesh operations. Warid is owned by Dhabi Group.

It offers mobile services in all 64 districts of Bangladesh with a subscriber base of 2.9 million.

Bharti has acquired management control rights of the company now. Dhabi Group will continue to be part of the venture and also have nominees on the board of the company.

Bharti has acquired the stake by way of purchase of existing shares held by Dhabi Group in Warid as well as by issue of fresh shares at par.

On the occasion Mr. Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman and Managing Director, Bharti Airtel, said “This landmark deal underlines our intent to further expand our operations to international markets where we can implant our unique business model and offer quality and affordable telecom services. At the same time, it is a symbol of the growing economic cooperation between the South Asian countries and we would like to thank the Government of India and Bangladesh for their support and encouragement.”  

“Bangladesh, with a population of over 160 million and teledensity of 32% is a very promising market for telecom services. Bharti is keen to work in Bangladesh and contribute to achieving the vision of Digital Bangladesh even sooner than 2021. It will be our endeavour to raise the bar in the country’s mobile services market and bring best in class service, quality network and innovative products in the area of mobile commerce, health, education, agriculture, m-entertainment to customers. In particular, we look to leverage our rich experience in taking mobile telephony into rural areas and expand our services to the deepest pockets of Bangladesh and double the teledensity in few years.” he added.        

Commenting on the deal, HH Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan, Chairman, Dhabi Group said, “We are pleased to partner Bharti Airtel and believe this partnership will bring benefits to all stakeholders, most importantly the customers of Warid Telecom. The telecom market in Bangladesh has immense growth potential and Bharti Airtel's rich experience and product portfolio promise to redefine this market. We are confident that this partnership will help establish the company as a leading player in the Bangladesh telecom industry.”