Vodafone Group Plc is on track to buy out CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd’s stake in a joint venture, in a move that would make it the sole owner in UK’s biggest wireless company, its chairman said Tuesday.
(Bloomberg) — Vodafone Group Plc is on track to buy out CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd’s stake in a joint venture, in a move that would make it the sole owner in UK’s biggest wireless company, its chairman said Tuesday.
Vodafone agreed to merge its UK mobile business with CK Hutchison’s Three UK unit last month. Vodafone received the option to buy the entire business after three years if it reaches certain targets.
“This is a merger of two UK companies, where the clear path is that Vodafone ultimately will take over the control and full economic ownership of this company in due time,” Jean-Francois van Boxmeer said at the company’s annual general meeting on Tuesday at the company’s headquarters in Newbury, England.
UK regulators still must sign off on deal, which is subject to antitrust and national security checks. The antitrust review is expected to take more than a year, while Margherita Della Valle said at the shareholders meeting that security clearance from the UK government may be given by the end of 2023.
At the meeting, the board faced questions from representatives of the Unite union about the deal’s implications for national security and consumer prices, citing concerns over CK Hutchison’s links to China.
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