Brightstar Shines: Bharti Enterprises Sells Majority Stake In Beetel
Brightstar Shines: Bharti Enterprises Sells Majority Stake In Beetel
Bharti Enterprises has sold its majority stake in wholly-owned subsidiary Beetel Teletech to US based company Brightstar. The latter is one of the biggest distributors for wireless devices across the globe. The value of the deal was not disclosed. Also under wraps is the actual stake transacted in Beetel.
Beetel is associated with distribution and sales of technology products and telecommunications. Sunil Bharti Mittal led Bharti group is now looking to encash on it with this deal. Bahrti Airtel is a hugely successful cellular and fixed lines services. It is currently the leader in its sector. Beetel was its first venture into the telecom sector. This was during the time when public sector firms such as ITI had played a vital role in telecom hardware.
Brightstar is also into producing the latest mobile devices and accessories from leading manufacturers. It will now utilize the distribution platform of Beetel, according to a joint statement released by the companies.
The Indian mobile market is now rapidly expanding into the next stage of growth. It will be driven by data services on 3G as well as 4G technologies. Triple digit growth has been recorded in the year 2013 in the smartphone market. New mobile businesses and associated technologies Brightstar can now harness with Beetel will lead to gains in the distribution strength, a media report quoted Rakesh Bharti Mittal, Vice Chairman of Bharti Enterprises as saying.
Founded in the year 1985, Beetel Teletech is a leader in the field of manufacturing in fixed line telephones for Airtel. Devices distributed through this company are not only for sale in the open market, they are also exported to as many as 30 countries.
The firm also provides voice and data solutions and network solutions to enterprises. This is known as the last mile connectivity. According to Marcelo Claure, founder and CEO of Brighstar Corp, India is a wonderful growth opportunity as customers upgrade to “smartphones in record numbers”.
Beetel will retain its name and current employees. It will also continue to operate from the Gurgaon office in India. This acquisition will enable the distribution of mobile devices an accessories from well known manfacturers to improve through the Beetel's channel.
Beetel is said to have a B2B distribution reach of 500 distributors an partners along with 10,000 retailers and 28 warehouses across the country. The numbers sure are impressive. Softbank is the biggest shareholder in Brightstar and it has acquired 57% stake in the US subsidiary of this firm for about $1.26 billion in January this year. Softbank also sold its Commerce and Service division to the company.
Following the acquisition, Brightstar became the primary global distributor for SoftBank's “SELECTION” brand of mobile products. Softbank also has a 50:50 mobile internet JV with Bharti Enterprises. With Beetel, yet another common factor now appears between Brightstar and Bharti, adding a new twinkle to both these firms. Brightstar currently has a turnover of $7 billion.
