It's common for larger companies or more powerful ones to buy smaller ones, or to invest in others in order to spread its reach.
As for those companies that are acquired or invested in, it's common for them to accept acquisition because doing so enables them to receive support from a more powerful company, or to have those with experience on board.
And this is what exactly happened, when India's telecommunication company Bharti Airtel is receiving a huge $1 billion investment form Google.
According to Bharti Airtel that first announced it, the investment is part of Google's 'Google for India Digitization Fund', in the Indian telecommunication market.
"Google for India is always a really special time, and I only wish I could be there in person," said India-born Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai in a blog post, back in 2020.
In a press release, Bharti Airtel said that the investment includes $700 million to acquire a 1.28% stake in Bharti Airtel, and up to $300 million for potential multi-year commercial agreements to bolster the telecommunication company's digital offerings.
To make this happen, India’s second-largest telecom service provider is issuing 71.2 million shares to Google on a preferential basis at Rs 734 per share.
One of the first commercial agreements, according to Bharti Airtel, is to see whether the two companies can work together to help build on Airtel's range of Android-enabled consumer devices, and remove barriers of owning a smartphone by working with various device manufacturers.
This also includes the two companies in exploring the possibility of co-creating India-specific network domain use cases for 5G network connection and other standards.
At the same time, other plans include developing a cloud-based ecosystem in India to help local businesses accelerate digital adoption and explore scaling up the deployment of Google's network virtualization solutions.
"Airtel and Google share the vision to grow India's digital dividend through innovative products. With our future ready network, digital platforms, last mile distribution and payments ecosystem, we look forward to working closely with Google to increase the depth and breadth of India's digital ecosystem," Bharti Airtel chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal.
This investment deal comes off the back of a long-standing relationship between the two companies.
Previously, back in 2013, the two companies teamed up to provide Bharti Airtel customers in India access to Google online products for free.
"Airtel is a leading pioneer shaping India's digital future, and we are proud to partner on a shared vision for expanding connectivity and ensuring equitable access to the Internet for more Indians," Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai said.
"Our commercial and equity investment in Airtel is a continuation of our Google for India Digitization Fund's efforts to increase access to smartphones, enhance connectivity to support new business models, and help companies on their digital transformation journey."
Following the announcement, Bharti Airtel shares spiked up 6% on January 28. This is a premium of 4% of the closing price on January 27.
It's worth noting that the share issue is subject to regulatory and shareholder approval, with the news coming months after Bharti Airtel raised up to 210 billion rupees through a sale of shares to existing shareholders, and following the news when Bharti Airtel has been scrambling for ways to repay billions of dollars they owe to the Indian government..
India is the world's second most populous country.
With more than 1.4 billion people as its population, India has around 750 million internet users. With technology and the internet increasingly become part of many people's lives in India, the country has hundreds of millions more yet to come online for the first time.
And unlike its more populous neighbor China, India has been welcoming huge amounts of investment from the U.S.
From Google to Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and others, a number of U.S. tech companies have already invested a combined billions of dollars into the growing population of India.
Related: Facebook Acquires 9.9% Of Jio Platforms, One Of India's Largest Mobile Network
