Hutchison Whampoa has entered into an agreement with Telefónica to buy its UK subsidiary, O2 UK, for £9.25 billion. Merging Hutchison Whampoa's Three mobile network with O2's can create the largest telecom operator in the UK with almost 33 million combined customers and a market share of 41%, compared to the next biggest Operator, EE who has a market share of 29%.
Hutchison Whampoa, commenting on the merger, said that the combined networks will be delivering better network coverage and quality of service for subscribers of both entities.
The combination of Three UK and O2 UK will create a business with unmatched scale and strength that will allow us to better compete against other operators in the marketplace and will also enable us to provide even better service and innovation to UK customers in a market that will remain fully competitive. This very significant investment for Hutchison also reflects our continued confidence in the UK economy and its commitment to maintain and foster a dynamic telecommunications sector.
David Dyson, CEO of Three
Three’s leadership in mobile data together with O2’s strength on network coverage is a great combination that will bring very real benefits to businesses and consumers throughout the UK. The highly complementary network assets will deliver market leading coverage and capacity for talk, text and data and will be well placed to satisfy rapidly growing demand.
