In Australia, the billionaire Warren Buffett, the richest person in the world, has bought more than $300 million of French telecommunications company, France Telecom, in a move that could prove a major strategic coup for the country.
The deal, reported by the Wall Street Journal, gives Mr. Buffett and his company access to a large swath of the country’s digital communications.
Mr. Warren’s $400 million purchase is a record for a single company in the United States, according to Bloomberg.
In the United Kingdom, the investment could help ease a financial crisis for telecom companies, which are struggling to fend off the digital onslaught.
Mr., Buffett’s stake in the French company is valued at about $4 billion.
The Wall Street Report reported that Mr. Buffet, a billionaire who lives in Omaha, Nebraska, will become the first investor in the company since its founder, Pierre Cardin, died in February.
The purchase price of the French telecoms company is not disclosed.
“We’re very proud to join Warren Buffett as one of the world’s largest and most powerful corporate shareholders,” French telecom board chairman Xavier Fauci said in a statement.
The company said the deal “signals a new era for French Telecom.”
Mr. Cardin founded the company in 1966 as a joint venture between AT&T and the French government.
The two companies have long worked together to offer the country high-speed internet to people in rural areas.
In 2011, Mr. Faucs proposed a merger between the two companies.
The government in France agreed in 2013 to sell the French telecommunications business to Mr. Cervi, the current chairman of Mr. Fund, the private equity fund that he co-founded in 2002.
Mr Cervic, who was also once a shareholder of the company, is now chief executive of the telecommunications giant.
Mr Buffett’s investment in France Telecom is part of a wider strategy by the Buffett family to invest in French companies, said Scott A. Shafer, a professor of management at Cornell University who has researched Mr. Auerbach.
“I think the Buffett investment will be seen as a major coup for France Telecom,” Mr. Shaper said.
The billionaire Buffett also owns about 2.5 million shares of Google, according in a profile published in the Wall St. Journal.
In a separate deal, Mr Buffett is investing in Amazon.com Inc. to build an online retail store and acquire video streaming services.
Mr Auerbaits company, a retail chain based in Omaha that is partly owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., plans to open a new online store and video streaming service later this year.
Mr Shafer said that while he thinks that Amazon is an extremely interesting and potentially significant tech company, it may not be the best match for Mr. Beren.
The Omaha company also has a major rival in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., which operates in the Chinese marketplace of Alibaba.
Mr Beren, who is worth $3.9 billion, is known for his close ties to the Chinese government and has been known to take a tough stance against those in the country who try to undermine China’s ruling Communist Party.
He has said that the Chinese Communist Party is responsible for the rise of cyber espionage and other online threats to the country, and that it will do whatever it takes to stop the spread of such attacks.
Mr Fauces stake in French telecom is one of about $6 billion in companies that Mr Buffett has invested in in recent years, according a Bloomberg News analysis of public filings.
Mr Buffet is one who has been active in investing in businesses outside of the United Nations and other international organizations.
He is a longtime investor in Apple Inc., the Apple Watch and the Samsung Electronics Co. The Buffett family has said it wants to keep investing in emerging technology companies that will make it easier for businesses to communicate more easily.