Vodafone and Three merge in Great Britain
Consolidation in telecommunications in Great Britain between Vodafone e Three Uksubsidiary of Ck Hutchison, for the creation of the first mobile operator in the country with a market share of 37% better than BT (31.6% of the market) and Virgin Media (31.3%).
The announcement came a little less than a year after the start of the negotiations. Vodafone as expected, will check the 51% of the new company, while the remaining 49% will be in the hands of the Chinese Ck Hutchison. The new company with 27 million customers will be led by Ahmed Essam, current head of Vodafone UK, while Darren Purkis, CFO of Three UK, will cover the same role in the new company.
Eleven billion investments
Before the deal, Vodafone and Three UK were the two smallest operators in Britain. The closing will arrive by the end of 2024 given that a long scrutiny of the operation by the Antitrust is expected, up to 18 months. In fact, in 2016 the British authority had rejected the merger between Three and O2.
Vodafone and CK subsidiary Hutchison will take on £4.3bn and £1.7bn respectively of debt and 6 billion overall will be refinanced. In addition the new entity will invest 11 billion pounds in the next decade for the creation of an autonomous 5G network.
The scenario in Italy
“For Vodafone, the agreement is a turning point for our domestic market,” said the CEO of Vodafone. Margaret of the Valley-It is – he added – a testimony of trust in Great Britain and its ambitions to be the center of the future of technology».
After the conclusion of the match in Great Britain, even in Italy it could become a basis for consolidation in the telecommunications sector. Iliad he had made an offer for the activities of Vodafone and it is recognized by many that 4 operators with infrastructures in our country are too many.