UK watchdog shows Vodafone-Three merger a path forward despite competition concerns

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Vodafone’s US$19.7 billion deal for the network owned by Li Ka-shing’s CK Hutchison Holdings would create the UK’s largest carrier

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Branding hangs outside a Vodafone shop in Oxford, UK. Photo: Reuters

Bloomberg

Published: 9:30pm, 13 Sep 2024

The UK challenged Vodafone Group and Three’s claims that their proposed £15 billion (US$19.7 billion) merger would leave the country’s mobile networks better off, saying the deal raises serious competition concerns. But the regulator still left the deal a potential path to completion.

The Competition and Markets Authority said on Friday that it had found issues with the combination, with price rises and customers getting reduced service as particular concerns. However, it found the merger could improve the quality of the mobile networks.

The deal with CK Hutchison Holdings, the conglomerate of the family of Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing, would see the two smallest of the UK’s four mobile operators combine to create the country’s largest carrier by revenue in the fiercely competitive market.

The CMA’s decision is essentially a green light for the merger, said Karen Egan from Enders Analysis. The pricing harms are “modest”, and the proposed remedies are easy for the companies to follow.

The CMA will now ask Vodafone to offer solutions for remedies to clear the deal before its final decision on December 7. Shares in Vodafone were little changed in morning trading in London.