Vodafone Group PLC (LSE:VOD) and the owner of the Three UK mobile network are just days away from tying up a merger deal.
The FTSE 100-listed telecoms group and CK Hutchison are expected to announce the combination of their UK operations by the end of this week or early next, Reuters has reported.
Last month, CK Hutchison’s finance chief Frank John Sixt told shareholders the merger is “probable” but faced “extremely difficult” hurdles.
He was thought to be referring to pushback from British MPs and scrutiny from the UK’s competition watchdog on national security grounds.
Vodafone’s long-running ambition to merge its operations with Three UK, which would create a £15bn entity comprising £9bn in equity and £6bn in debt, with Vodafone becoming the 51% majority owner, could be blocked under the National Security and Investment Act, introduced in 2021 to identify and manage national security risks of international mergers and acquisitions.
Shares in the UK group rose 1.4% to 77.96p on Wednesday morning.