In a new press release, as an answer to media speculations, Vodafone UK confirmed that it’s indeed in talks with Three UK about a possible merger. According to the “envisaged transaction,” Vodafone will have a 51% majority stake in the new business, and CK Hutchison — the owner of Three UK — will own 49% of the new company. However, the press release says that the unification between the two carriers will be a “no cash” deal, meaning there won’t be any payment for the acquisition.
Vodafone also shares that, according to the UK government, both Vodafone and Three “lack the necessary scale to earn their cost of capital” in growing 5G across the UK. However, a merger between the two will fix this issue by unifying the two networks into one, enabling the new company to “expand broadband connectivity to rural communities and small businesses.”
As we mentioned before, if Vodafone and Three really merge, the new entity will hold 30% of the mobile market in the UK and become a serious competitor to the two other big players: Virgin Media O2 and EE.
A new player in town will probably reflect the deals that UK carriers currently offer, but again, the two companies are still in talks, and a merger may not happen. However, if you are looking for a new phone now, you can check out our best Vodafone and Three phone deals. And if you are not a big fan of these two, feel free to visit our best EE phone deals, top O2 deals, and best Virgin Media deals.
