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Vodafone Group PLC and CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd are poised to unveil a £15 billion UK mobile tie-up, the Financial Times reported on Thursday. CK Hutchison is a Hong Kong-based telecommunications, ports, infrastructure and retailing conglomerate. Vodafone is a Newbury, England-based telecommunications operator. The agreement is likely to be announced this month following the appointment of Margherita Della Valle as Vodafone chief executive officer, the newspaper said. Vodafone and CK Hutchison are close to agreeing a £15 billion combination of their UK telecoms businesses that would create the country’s biggest mobile operator, with 28 million customers, the FT reported, citing ‘three people close to the matter’. The deal is set to value the equity of the combined group at about £9 billion, the newspaper said. The new company would have roughly £6 billion of debt, taking its enterprise value to about £15 billion, it said. https://www.ft.com/content/8338f96e-b01e-49d1-bbdc-36160deb2c31 In a joint statement back in October, Vodafone confirmed that it is in discussions with CK Hutchison regarding a possible combination of Vodafone UK and Three UK. They had said the proposed transaction would involve both companies combining their UK businesses, with Vodafone owning 51% and its partner CK Hutchison owning 49% of the combined business. However, at the time, Vodafone emphasised that ‘there can be no certainty’ that any transaction with CK Hutchison will ultimately be agreed. Last week, Vodafone confirmed the appointment of Della Valle as CEO, taking over from Chair Jean-Francois van Boxmeer’s temporary responsibilities as interim group CEO. Della Valle will continue as group chief financial officer until a successor is found. Shares in Vodafone were down 0.8% to 95.42 pence each in London late Thursday morning. CK Hutchison closed up 3.4% at HK$54.45 in Hong Kong. Copyright 2023 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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