US retail giant Wal-Mart, which has signed a joint venture with the Bharti Group for wholesale cash and carry business, will restrict itself to technical support and training in Sunil Mittal firm's foray into retail.
Bharti Retail on Friday announced appointments of former head of Walmart India Raj Jain as its CEO and Pankaj Madan, another senior executive of erstwhile joint venture Bharti Walmart, as Chief Financial Officer.
As against the 2007 target of 10-15 stores in seven years, it is planning to touch around 25 cash and carry outlets in India by the end of 2012.
After dominating the telecom space, Bharti on Monday forayed into the life insurance sector with its joint venture with global insurance major Axa Asia Pacific launching its operations in India with two products.
The deal enables Bharti Airtel to extend its services in 15 countries across the African continent.
The joint-venture's first wholesale store is expected to be opened by the end of 2008, Wal-Mart India President (Operations) Raj Jain had said.
Having sold 62 million equity shares last week in Sunil Mittal owned Bharti Group, Warburg Pincus has said that its investments in the Bharti company was one of most successful investment and expressed satisfaction about the deal.
Bharti Enterprises, which has tied-up with Wal-Mart, on Friday said discussions are on over business arrangement with the US firm for their retail venture.
Bharti Wal-Mart, a joint venture between Bharti Enterprises and US-based retail giant Wal-Mart stores, on Friday said it will commence its wholesale cash and carry operations by early next year from the northern region.
Bharti Airtel Ltd, India's top telecommunications carrier, said on Friday it had bought out Qualcomm Inc's stake from a fourth-generation (4G) broadband joint venture in the country, taking full ownership of the business more than a year earlier than planned.
Retail giant Walmart and Bharti have decided to part ways.
US retail chain Walmart is awaiting a decision by its board decision on its India strategy, including its partnership with the Bharti group.
Bharti Wal-Mart Pvt Ltd, the joint venture between Bharti Enterprises and retail giant Wal-Mart, opened its first cash-and-carry (wholesale) store in India at Amritsar.
.jpg)
On May 24, 2012, Bharti Airtel and Qualcomm announced an agreement under which Bharti had acquired 49 per cent interest in Qualcomm AP's India entities with licences to offer 4G data services in four circles of Delhi, Mumbai, Haryana and Kerala.
Bharti Telesoft, a supplier of value added services platforms to wireline and wireless carriers, has been ranked as one of the country's fast growing 50 technology companies by Deloitte Technology.
SoftBank will hold majority stake in the joint venture.
Bharti Airtel on Friday said its subscriber base has crossed the 100 million mark, making it the world's third largest 'in-country' mobile operator.
Telecom major Bharti Airtel on Thursday signed a five-year managed services deal valued at $500 million with Alcatel Lucent for its fixed-line and broadband operations.
Bharti's undersea fibre-optic cable connecting Chennai with Singapore has not been affected by the deadly tsunami waves, triggered by the massive quake off the Indonesian coast, its CMD Sunil Mittal said on Tuesday.
In its comment on the industry department's discussion paper on foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail, the joint venture between Bharti Enterprises and Walmart, said though 100 per cent FDI should be allowed in the sector, it would endorse a calibrated opening.
After ending its wholesale partnership with Walmart, Bharti Retail has decided to merge with the Future group
Bharti Group on Monday offloaded 10 per cent of its stake in Bharti Telesoft to a group of investors led by Westbridge Capital for $13.5 million.
Given the ongoing economic turmoil, the DEA has raised concerns that the government may not be able to get the right value for its stake. TCIL has been seeking an exit route for over two years. It first wanted to get the company listed so that it could exit. However, the proposal was turned down by Bharti Airtel, which has 70 per cent stake.
'The service we are offering is for all telcos and not just Bharti.'
Bharti Enterprises, which had last year announced a $2.5-billion investment for its retail venture, is expected to announce its final plans, including that of opening of the first store, within the next two months.
"We have examined the Bharti-Wal-Mart joint venture and everything is in conformity with the existing policy on FDI in retail," high-level sources in the commerce and industry ministry said.
India's largest mobile phone company, Bharti Tele-Ventures Ltd, said on Saturday it had bought Swedish firm Telia A.B.'s 26 per cent stake in one of its local subsidiaries for approximately $59 million.
The two JV partners have undertaken an empowerment initiative for Indian women entrepreneurs, having set a target of impacting the lives of 25,000 women by 2016. They have also said they will substantially increase sourcing from women-owned businesses in India.
This could mean an end to the talks for a possible partnership between the two firms in the multi-brand retail space -- less than a year after 51 per cent foreign investment was allowed in the sector.
Tesco has admitted that its plan to be the first multinational supermarket retailer in India has unravelled.
The government is believed to have rejected a proposal of Bharti Global Ltd for acquiring up to 49 per cent stake in Bharti Tele-Ventures.
Having made public its tie-up for a retail venture, the Bharti-Wal-Mart combine is roping in leading realty majors like DLF, Emaar MGF, and Ansals for handling the massive real estate requirements of the project.
Bharti Hexacom, a joint venture between Bharti Airtel and TCIL, offers mobile services in Rajasthan. Bharti owns a 70 per cent stake, while the remaining 30 per cent is held by state-run Telecom Consultants of India.
Walmart's JV with Bharti hinges on policy clarity
Plans to form JV for its data centre business
