After years of talks and months of heightened expectation, details of the planned merger between mobile operators Vodafone UK and Three have finally been revealed, and as expected there are major doubts as to whether the planned merger will get all the regulatory approval it needs.
The parent companies of the two UK operators, Vodafone Group and CK Hutchison Group Telecom Holdings Limited (CKHGT), announced their intention to merge their respective UK operations in October last year following years of stop-start talks – see Vodafone and Three UK go public about their marriage plans.
Now they have revealed the nitty gritty details. As expected, the merger would not involve any payment between the parties – the businesses would be combined, with Vodafone Group holding a 51% stake and CKHGT a 49% stake in an operator that is valued by the prospective owners at £16.5bn.
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