Verizon and BT Group have announced plans to combine their international enterprise fixed-line operations into a new joint venture. The move is expected to close in 2027, subject to regulatory approval. BT and Verizon say the new company will be “designed for a cloud-first world in the age of AI”, whatever that means.
It will be a 50-50 joint venture, and will serve over 3,000 multinational organizations in more than 180 countries. Verizon will pay BT an equalization amount of $625 million to guarantee even voting rights.
Combining BT and Verizon’s international enterprise fixed-line operations is expected to unlock “significant scale efficiencies across the combined global network and service operations”. BT and Verizon plan to use the joint venture’s infrastructure to meet local compliance and sovereignty needs and accelerate the rollout of next-generation connectivity platforms.
Martijn Blanken, a former Telstra and KPN executive, will be the CEO of the new company. He will join BT on September 1 in preparation for the transaction. This deal ends the years-long speculation about BT International’s future. BT CEO Allison Kirkby said in 2024 that it could potentially sell the unit as part of a cost-cutting program. BT International was made into a separate business unit last year, presumably in preparation for just such a deal.
