LONDON (Reuters) -Vodafone and CK Hutchison have completed the merger of their UK operations, creating a new business called “VodafoneThree”, which will invest 1.3 billion pounds ($1.76 billion) in its network in the first year, the companies said on Monday.
The combination will overtake BT’s EE and O2, jointly owned by Telefonica and Liberty Global, to become market leader.
The $19 billion tie-up was approved by regulators in December after they were persuaded that the investment pledged by the two companies outweighed concerns about a reduction to three from four networks.
Vodafone and Three said they would invest 11 billion pounds over the next 10 years in building one of Europe’s most advanced 5G networks.
Margherita Della Valle, Vodafone Group chief executive, said the merger would create a new force in UK mobile, transform the country’s digital infrastructure and propel the UK to the forefront of European connectivity.
“We are now eager to kick-off our network build and rapidly bring customers greater coverage and superior network quality,” she said on Monday.
The new company’s logo is Vodafone’s “speechmark” and Hutchison’s “3” side by side, referencing the VodafoneThree name.
The group, which is 51% owned by Vodafone, did not say which Vodafone and Three brands, which also include the Voxi and Smarty value offers, it will retain.
($1 = 0.7384 pounds)
(Reporting by Paul Sandle; editing by Michael Holden)
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