BT and Verizon form a $625 million 50/50 joint venture to combine their international telecoms operations

Executive summary: BT and Verizon have agreed to create a 50/50 joint venture that merges their international telecommunications businesses, valuing the transaction at $625 million and ending BT's lengthy search for a buyer of those assets. The new venture combines two major telecoms' global reach, potentially altering competitive dynamics in wholesale and enterprise services and delivering synergies that could improve margins for both partners.

Who is involved: BT Group (UK), Verizon Communications (US), their respective international divisions, and the competition and telecoms regulators in the jurisdictions where the venture will operate.

Likely next: The parties will seek regulatory approvals, finalise the integration plan, and begin offering combined services to multinational clients once the deal clears all required reviews.

The agreement ends BT's more-than-18‑month effort to divest its overseas business and creates a jointly owned entity that will pool the international assets of both groups. By combining networks and customer bases, the venture aims to achieve cost savings and stronger positioning against rivals in the global wholesale and enterprise markets. The deal will now be subject to antitrust and regulatory review in the UK, EU and the United States before it can close.

Timeline

2026-06-29 — BT and Verizon to create joint global business in $625m deal (The Guardian — Business)

Analysis — what this means

Likely next events

Regulatory filings and antitrust clearance in the UK, EU and US.
Integration of network platforms and sales teams.

Sectors affected

Telecommunications
International wholesale services
Enterprise IT and connectivity

Regulatory implications

Antitrust review to assess market concentration in cross‑border telecoms markets.
Data‑privacy and security oversight due to handling of international customer traffic.

Historical parallels

BT's earlier sale of its Openreach infrastructure to investors.
Verizon's previous joint ventures with Vodafone in European markets.
Other telecoms‑operator joint ventures such as the Telefonica‑Telefonica UK partnership.