Vodafone’s UK merger with Three raises competition concerns, regulator says
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Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Vodafone Group’s deal to merge its U.K. business with rival operator Three raises competition concerns, the U.K.’s antitrust authority said, creating uncertainty on a deal poised to shake up the country’s telecommunications market.
The Competition and Markets Authority said Friday that an in-depth probe into the deal provisionally concluded the combination could result in higher prices for tens of millions of mobile customers in the U.K. and not necessarily lead to higher network investments. The companies rejected the findings and said they would work with the CMA to secure an approval.
“Vodafone and Three UK disagree with the CMA’s provisional findings that their merger raises competition concerns and could lead to price rises for customers," the companies said. U.K. telecoms group Vodafone and CK Hutchison Holdings’ Three struck a deal to combine their U.K.
businesses in June last year, with Vodafone owning 51% of the merged entity and the remaining 49% in the hands of the Hong Kong-based conglomerate. The merger was a major step in Vodafone Chief Executive Margherita Della Valle’s plan to streamline the group’s portfolio and cut debt, alongside deals in Spain and Italy. In a separate move, Vodafone’s sale of its Italian operations to Swisscom for 8 billion euros ($8.86 billion) is also under the scrutiny of Italian antitrust authorities, who opened an in-depth probe into the deal this week.
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