BT Group and Verizon to form joint venture, creating a scaled international connectivity platform for multinational customers

BT Group and Verizon entered an agreement to combine their respective international enterprise operations into a 50:50 joint venture, creating a new company focused on multinational connectivity. The transaction is expected to change how the two organizations structure their international networking activities.

The joint venture is expected to serve more than 3,000 customers across more than 180 countries, representing approximately $4 billion in combined annual revenue. BT and Verizon described the effort as bringing together international network businesses for operation through a single organization.

The companies said the joint venture is designed for a cloud-first world in the age of AI. BT International, which serves multinational customers with secure and resilient communication and network services, and Verizon’s international enterprise wireline arm, which provides secure connectivity to enterprises worldwide, will be part of the combined operations. Both companies will hold equal voting rights, and Verizon agreed to pay BT an equalisation payment of $625 million.

Martijn Blanken was appointed Chief Executive Officer-designate of the new joint venture, conditional on transaction completion. Clive Selley will continue to lead BT International as CEO, while Verizon’s leadership remains unchanged. BT and Verizon said the transaction will be subject to regulatory clearances and consultation with employee representations in countries where required, and the international businesses will operate independently until the transaction officially closes.

Press release, originally published at newsroom.bt.com.