--- title: "BT and Verizon to Merge Their International Arms in a Global Connectivity Venture" description: "BT and Verizon are combining their international enterprise units into a 50:50 joint venture serving multinational companies, with Verizon paying BT a $625 million 'equalization' payment to balance the deal. The combined business will have about $4 billion in annual revenue and 3,000-plus corporate customers." category: "Companies" category_url: https://boursel.com/category/companies author: "Marcus Feldman" published: 2026-06-29T07:43:00.000Z updated: 2026-06-29T07:43:00.000Z canonical: https://boursel.com/article/bt-and-verizon-to-merge-their-international-arms-in-a-global-connectivity-ventur tags: ["bt-group", "verizon", "telecoms", "joint-venture", "companies"] --- # BT and Verizon to Merge Their International Arms in a Global Connectivity Venture BT and Verizon are combining their international enterprise units into a 50:50 joint venture serving multinational companies, with Verizon paying BT a $625 million 'equalization' payment to balance the deal. The combined business will have about $4 billion in annual revenue and 3,000-plus corporate customers. Two of the biggest names in telecoms are joining forces where neither could win alone. **BT Group** and **Verizon** are merging their international enterprise operations into a **50:50 joint venture** aimed at serving multinational companies, the firms said, with Verizon making a **$625 million payment** to BT to balance the deal, [the Guardian reported](https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jun/29/bt-verizon-joint-venture-deal-telecoms-international). ## What's being combined The venture pools BT's **International** unit — its global enterprise arm — with Verizon's international business operations. The combined company will serve **more than 3,000 customers across over 180 countries** and generate roughly **$4 billion in annual revenue**, [per BT's announcement](https://newsroom.bt.com/bt-group-and-verizon-to-form-joint-venture-creating-a-scaled-international-connectivity-platform-for-multinational-customers/). This is **enterprise connectivity** — selling networking, secure data links and managed services to big companies that operate across borders — not consumer mobile or broadband. A word on the headline number: the **$625 million is an "equalization payment"** from Verizon to BT, not a purchase price or the value of the business. Because each side is contributing units of different size, the payment squares up the contributions so both can hold an equal half-share. The deal is expected to close in **2027**, subject to regulatory approval, and **Martijn Blanken** has been named the venture's chief executive-designate. ## Why do it Both companies have found their **cross-border enterprise businesses hard to grow alone**. Serving multinationals — with consistent, secure connectivity in dozens of countries, meeting each one's data and regulatory rules — is a **scale game**, and on their own neither BT's nor Verizon's international arm was big enough to compete comfortably with the largest global players. Combined, they get reach, a bigger customer base and shared costs. For **BT**, the move fits chief executive **Allison Kirkby's** multi-year strategy of **refocusing on the United Kingdom** — its home consumer and business markets — while paring back or partnering out non-core international operations. Folding its global unit into a jointly owned venture lets BT stay exposed to the upside without carrying the whole burden of competing worldwide. For **Verizon**, whose business is overwhelmingly **US-centric**, the deal buys international reach without the cost and risk of building it from scratch. ## The competitive backdrop The venture lands in a **consolidating** industry. Global carriers have been combining or shedding their international enterprise units as competition intensifies — not just from each other but from specialist connectivity firms and the cloud giants. Rivals such as **Orange Business**, **Lumen** and **AT&T Business** are reshaping their own multinational offerings. A combined BT-Verizon platform, structured as a standalone business with its own CEO rather than a division of either parent, is meant to be a more focused competitor for that cross-border corporate spending. ## Why it matters For multinational customers, the promise is **one provider** for seamless, secure connectivity across regions — if the venture delivers on the integration. For investors, it's a tidy illustration of how legacy telecoms are adapting: rather than trying to be everything everywhere, **BT concentrates on home turf** and **Verizon on the US**, while a shared venture chases the global enterprise market both struggled to crack solo. The financial terms are modest by telecom standards — the $625 million is a balancing payment, not a blockbuster price tag — but the strategic signal is clear: in a scale-driven business, even big carriers would rather pool their international ambitions than go it alone. ## Sources - [BT and Verizon to create joint global business in $625m deal](https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jun/29/bt-verizon-joint-venture-deal-telecoms-international) - [BT Group and Verizon to form a joint venture](https://newsroom.bt.com/bt-group-and-verizon-to-form-joint-venture-creating-a-scaled-international-connectivity-platform-for-multinational-customers/)