Vodafone has completed its merger with Three – creating the biggest mobile phone network in the UK.
The combined business, named VodafoneThree, is 51% owned by Vodafone and 49% by CKHGT.
Chief Executive Officer is Max Taylor, who currently leads Vodafone UK. Three UK’s Darren Purkis is appointed Chief Financial Officer.
The combined company is promising to invest over £11 billion over the next 10 years as it looks to cover areas currently underserved by 5G technologies.
Margherita Della Valle, Vodafone Group Chief Executive, said the merger would create a new force in UK mobile. “We are now eager to kick off our network build and rapidly bring customers greater coverage and superior network quality. The transaction completes the reshaping of Vodafone in Europe and following this period of transition we are now well-positioned for growth ahead.”
Canning Fok, Deputy Chairman of CK Hutchison and Executive Chairman of CKHGT, added: “As we have demonstrated in other European markets, scale enables the significant investment needed to deliver the world-beating mobile networks our customers expect, and the Vodafone and Three merger provides that scale.
Vodafone jumps from its pre-merger fourth place, while Three was previously fifth.
EE is the second largest mobile operator in the UK and O2 is fourth.
