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It may now be 2015 but the interesting rumours of UK network acquisitions continue just as they did towards the end of 2014. While before Christmas there was a lot of talk of BT eyeing up EE and O2, waving a £12.5 billion carrot in front of the prominent 4G provider, the attention has now turned to Three, which rumours say is looking to buyout key rival O2.
O2’s operations in Europe and the UK are owned by Telefonica, but the company which owns Three UK - Hutchinson Whampoa - is reportedly offering as much as £9 billion to acquire O2’s UK business. This is all according to a report in The Sunday Times, which alleges that Three’s owners hired Moelis & Co to assess potential buyout candidates in the UK market - it’s thought that with EE tied up by the BT deal, O2 is the next best opportunity.
Meanwhile, according to the report, Telefonica isn’t too fond of hanging onto its UK branch (which is in the red) and has similarly hired investment bank UBS AG to assess the situation and look at other options - a sale might be one such maneuver. It’s not without precedent either as Hutchinson Whampoa has already acquired O2’s Irish network from Telefonica for £650 million. All involved parties have, thus far, refused to comment on the Sunday Times’ story.
14:09, 19 Jan 2015
by pbriden via Featured Articles
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