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☆ British regulator says $19.5 billion Vodafone-Three merger could go ahead if remedies are adopted
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-05 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

LONDON British telecom firms Vodafone and Three's multibillion-pound merger could go ahead if the companies adopt a series of proposed remedies to clear competition concerns, regulators said Tuesday. Vodafone has previously said that the combined entity, once merged, would invest £11 billion ($14.46 billion) into U.K. telecommunications infrastructure. Vodafone has also said it disagrees with earlier findings from the CMA that the merger would lead to price increases for consumers. It says the merger wouldn't pricing strategy and would enhance competition between mobile virtual network operators, or MVNOs. "Approval would mark one of the most significant developments in the history of UK mobile, heralding the arrival of a new market leader with over 29 million customers," Manning said in emailed comments.

Persons: Margherita Della Valle, Three's, Stuart McIntosh, McIntosh, CK Hutchison, Kester Manning, Manning Organizations: Vodafone, LONDON, Markets Authority, Ofcom, CMA, CNBC, 5G, Sky Mobile, Mobile, CK, CK Hutchison, EE, BT, O2, Telefonica, Liberty Global, CCS Insight Locations: London, British, Hong Kong

☆ UK regulator finds Vodafone and Three merger would lead to price rises, seeks remedies for deal
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-13 | by ( Arjun Kharpal | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

In this article VOD-GB Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNTwatch nowBritain's competition watchdog on Friday said it found competition concerns with the proposed merger between Vodafone and the Three UK mobile network owned by CK Hutchison. The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said the deal would lead to price increases for tens of millions of customers or see some users get reduced services. The regulator also warned of a negative impact for so-called Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs), which piggyback on existing infrastructure. The regulator said Friday the merger would result in higher prices or reduced services, and could "negatively affect those customers least able to afford mobile services." Vodafone said in a separate statement Friday that it disagrees with the findings that the merger would lead to price increases for consumers.

Persons: CK Hutchison, Ahmed Essam, CNBC's, Essam Organizations: Vodafone, CK, The, Competition, Markets Authority, Mobile, Network, CMA, CK Hutchison, MVNOs

☆ UK regulator refers Vodafone's merger with Three for in-depth competition probe
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-04 | by ( Arjun Kharpal | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The U.K. competition regulator on Thursday referred the proposed merger between Vodafone and CK Hutchison's Three mobile network to an in-depth investigation. The CMA has given itself a deadline of Sept. 18 to complete the in-depth probe, also known as a phase 2 investigation. The CMA has previously said the deal could lead to customers facing higher prices and reduced quality, a lessening of competition in the U.K. mobile market. Announced last year, Vodafone and CK Hutchison's transaction would merge the two brands' U.K. businesses, giving Vodafone a 51% controlling stake and leaving CK Hutchison with the minority interest. Vodafone and Three reiterated that "there will be no change to each operator's pricing strategy as a result of the merger."

Persons: Margherita Della Valle, CK Hutchison Organizations: Vodafone, CK, Markets Authority, CMA, Regulators, CK Hutchison Locations: London, British, United Kingdom

☆ UK opens antitrust probe into Vodafone merger with CK Hutchison's Three mobile network
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-26 | by ( Arjun Kharpal | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

A pedestrian walks past a Vodafone store in central London on May 16, 2023. British mobile giant Vodafone is to axe 11,000 jobs over three years in the latest cull to hit the tech sector, as new boss Margherita Della Valle slammed recent performance. Britain's competition watchdog on Friday said it is opening an investigation into the proposed merger between Vodafone and the Three UK mobile network owned by CK Hutchison . The initial probe will look at whether the deal will lead to a "substantial lessening of competition," according to the U.K. Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). "The CMA will assess how this tie-up between rival networks could impact competition before deciding next steps."

Persons: Margherita Della Valle, CK Hutchison, Sarah Cardell Organizations: Vodafone, CK, U.K, Competition, Markets Authority, CMA Locations: London, British

☆ Vodafone reports Q2 improvement after Germany returns to growth
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, Nov 14 (Reuters) - Telecoms company Vodafone (VOD.L) reported an acceleration in service revenue in the second quarter on Tuesday after Germany, its biggest market, returned to growth. It reported a 4.2% rise in group service revenue for the six months to the end of September, with both Europe and Africa up, and 0.3% higher adjusted core earnings, a rise limited by higher energy costs. Chief Executive Margherita Della Valle said Vodafone had delivered improved revenue growth in nearly all of its markets in the first half of its financial year. "Our focus on customers and simplifying our business is beginning to bear fruit, although much more needs to be done," she said. ($1 = 0.9346 euros)Reporting by Paul Sandle; Editing by Kate HoltonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Margherita Della Valle, Paul Sandle, Kate Holton Organizations: Vodafone, British, Thomson Locations: Germany, Europe, Africa

☆ Vodafone, Three execs tell lawmakers their UK merger will benefit 5G, jobs
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Branding is displayed for Vodafone at one of its stores in London, Britain, June 14, 2023. REUTERS/Toby Melville/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsLONDON, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Executives from Vodafone (VOD.L) and CK Hutchison's (0001.HK) Three UK unit said their 15 billion pound ($18 billion) merger would benefit Britain's consumers, infrastructure and jobs, as lawmakers scrutinise the planned tie-up. Vodafone and Three UK have pledged to invest 11 billion pounds to build a 5G network for Britain as part of their bid to secure backing from politicians, unions and competition authorities for the merger announced in June. They warned that without the deal, Britain's 5G network would continue to lag that of other European nations. "Neither us nor Vodafone can invest sufficiently to build the type of 5G network that's needed," Three's Chief Technical Officer David Hennessy said.

Persons: Toby Melville, CK Hutchison's, Nicki Lyons, David Hennessy, Stephen Lerner, Sarah Young, Mark Potter Organizations: Vodafone, REUTERS, HK, Trade, VM O2, Telefonica, Liberty Global, Thomson Locations: London, Britain

☆ Vodafone takes 'first steps' in turnaround with top-line improvement
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-24 | by ( Paul Sandle | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, July 24 (Reuters) - Vodafone (VOD.L) reported better top-line growth on Monday, driven by higher prices in Britain and improvements in Germany, Italy and Spain, marking a positive start for new Chief Executive Margherita Della Valle's turnaround plan. She said on Monday that organic service revenue had improved "across almost all of our markets", as it reported a 3.7% first-quarter rise. The decline in service revenue in Germany more than halved quarter-on-quarter to 1.3%, as price rises partially offset the impact of customer losses over the last 18 months. Growth in service revenue in Britain, where Vodafone announced the merger of its operation with Hutchison's rival network Three last month, accelerated to 5.7%, boosted by strong growth in consumer and price increases. In Italy, improved demand from businesses helped reduce the service revenue decline to 1.6%, from 2.7% in the previous quarter, it said, while Spain saw a smaller improvement to a decline of 3.0% from 3.7%.

Persons: Margherita Della Valle's, Luka Mucic, Della Valle, We've, Ahmed Essam, Paul Sandle, Kate Holton, Sharon Singleton Organizations: Vodafone, SAP, Thomson Locations: Britain, Germany, Italy, Spain

☆ China-bashing throws Vodafone a curveball
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, June 27 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Vodafone's (VOD.L) M&A ambitions in Britain are falling prey to anti-China rhetoric. Parliamentarians are also fretting over the security impact on contracts with government departments once the deal goes through. Vodafone may face similar scrutiny, leading to inevitable delays. The fact that CK Hutchison has retained the right to appoint the chief financial officer may be a red flag. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

Persons: CK Hutchison's, Li Ka, Franco, Patrick Drahi, Hakan Koc, Pyrros Koussios, Roman Abramovich, CK Hutchison, Pamela Barbaglia, Aston Martin, Lisa Jucca, Streisand Neto Organizations: Reuters, HK, Vodafone, BT, UK's National Security and Investment Act, Twitter, Siemens, Thomson Locations: Britain, China, Hong Kong, Canada

☆ Vodafone and Three merger faces scrutiny from competition regulators
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( Paul Sandle | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The $19 billion tie-up will be scrutinised by Britain's Competition and Markets Authority, the antitrust regulator which made global headlines in April when it blocked Microsoft's $69 billion acquisition of "Call of Duty" maker Activision Blizzard. The long-awaited mobile deal reduces the number of networks from four to three, challenging a tenet long held by regulators that four help to keep prices low in major markets. "The government's desire to make the UK a 5G powerhouse requires a lot of investment," he said. One London-based investment banker, who declined to be named, said he put the chance of the deal receiving the green light from regulators at 50%. A major telecoms investor said the deal could be approved, but only with strong remedies, and that could risk undermining its rationale.

Persons: CK Hutchison, Activision Blizzard, Hutchison, Paolo Pescatore, Peter Broadhurst, Moring, James Gray, Sarah Cardell, Robert Finnegan, Gray, Paul Sandle, Amy, Jo Crowley, Sinead Cruise, Kate Holton, Emelia Organizations: Microsoft, Activision, Hutchison, O2, Vodafone, CK, HK, Britain's Competition, Markets Authority, Ofcom, European Commission, Foresight, Hutchison's, UK plc, Victoria, Crowell, CMA, Reuters, National Security and Investment, Britain's, Tesco Mobile, Telefonica, Thomson Locations: Hong Kong, Britain, Europe, China, London, Germany

Under the terms, Vodafone will own 51% and Hutchison 49% of the combined group, which will be led by current Vodafone UK boss Ahmed Essam. The finance chief of Hutchison's Three UK, Darren Purkis, will take the same role in the new group. The combined operator will have about 27 million customers, overtaking BT's (BT.L) EE and VM O2, jointly owned by Telefonica (TEF.MC) and Liberty Global (LBTYA.O). Vodafone, which is currently Britain's third-biggest mobile operator, and fourth-placed Hutchison will have options which would allow Vodafone to acquire the Hong Kong-based conglomerate's 49% stake in the future. Shares in Vodafone, which fell to a 25-year low of 71 pence on Tuesday, rose 3.6% after the deal was announced.

Persons: CK Hutchison, Canning Fok, Ahmed Essam, Darren Purkis, Hutchison, Vodafone's Essam, Robert Finnegan, Gail Cartmail, Paul Sandle, Clare Jim, Kate Holton, Sharon Singleton, Kirsten Donovan Organizations: Vodafone, CK, HK, Hutchison, Hutchison's, BT's, VM O2, Telefonica, Liberty Global, Britain's Competition, Markets Authority, CMA, Unite, Thomson Locations: HONG KONG, Britain, Hong Kong, China, London

[1/2] Vodafone Group CEO Margherita Della Valle poses in this undated handout picture obtained by Reuters on May 16, 2023. "For Vodafone this transaction is a game changer in our home market," Della Valle, a 29-year company veteran, told reporters. That is likely to take time, but Kester Mann, a director at CCS Insight, said the British announcement would give Della Valle a boost. "She has shown clear intent to make changes at Vodafone as she bids to turn the embattled company's performance around," he said. "Securing approval for a tie-up with (Hutchison's) Three would be a major boost to her early tenure."

Persons: Margherita Della Valle, Della Valle, CK Hutchison, Nick Read, Kester Mann, Kate Holton, Sinead Cruise, Emelia Sithole Organizations: Vodafone, Reuters, Handout, REUTERS, HK, CCS Insight, Thomson Locations: Britain, Hong Kong, Germany, Spain, Italy, British

The job cuts are the biggest in the history of Vodafone, which employs 90,000 people directly across Europe and Africa. Della Valle was given a mandate to turn Vodafone around when she permanently took on the top job from the role of CFO last month. Della Valle started cutting jobs when she took the helm at the start of the year, targeting Vodafone's central operations in London. Della Valle said the European telecoms market had long delivered a poor return on the capital invested in networks, but Vodafone's relative performance had worsened over time. "It will take as long as it takes to get a good deal," Della Valle told reporters.

☆ Vodafone's new boss to cut 11,000 jobs as cash flow to fall
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Paul Sandle | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Della Valle said Germany, Vodafone's biggest market, was underperforming, while Spain, which has suffered cut-throat competition in recent years, was under strategic review. Underscoring the pressures on the business, Vodafone said it would generate 3.3 billion euros ($3.6 billion) of cash this financial year, down from 4.8 billion euros in the year to end-March 2023. Analysts had expected 3.6 billion euros. For the year to end-March, pressures in Germany and higher energy costs resulted in a 1.3% decline in Vodafone's group core earnings to 14.7 billion euros, missing its own guidance. Vodafone has already started to cut jobs in its big markets, shedding 1,000 in Italy earlier this year, while a media report said it was looking to cut around 1,300 in Germany.

☆ Vodafone to cut 11,000 jobs, sees big drop in cash flow
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Paul Sandle | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, May 16 (Reuters) - Vodafone's (VOD.L) new boss Margherita Della Valle said she would cut 11,000 jobs over three years to simplify the telecoms group, which she said "must change", as it forecast a 1.5 billion euro decline in free cash flow this year. "Our performance has not been good enough," said Della Valle, who was appointed permanently last month. Vodafone said it would generate about 3.3 billion euros of cash this financial year, compared with 4.8 billion euros in the year to end-March it reported on Tuesday, and around 3.6 billion euros expected by analysts. Growth in Africa and higher handset sales, however, enabled it to eek out a 0.3% rise in revenue to 45.7 billion euros. Vodafone has recently cut jobs in several of its big markets, shedding 1,000 in Italy earlier this year and a media report said it was looking to cut around 1,300 in Germany.

☆ Exclusive: Temasek's PSA evaluates multi-billion dollar exit from Hutchison Ports-sources
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Anshuman Daga | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SINGAPORE, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Port operator PSA International, fully owned by Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings, is considering selling its multi-billion dollar, 20% stake in the ports business of CK Hutchison Holdings (0001.HK), two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. PSA, the world's second-biggest container terminal operator, whose global network encompasses 160 locations in 42 countries, had acquired the stake in the Hong Kong-based conglomerate's ports business for $4.4 billion in 2006. Both Temasek and CK Hutchison, the conglomerate of retired billionaire Li Ka-shing, declined to comment. Temasek reported a nearly 6% rise in its portfolio value to a record S$403 billion ($297 billion) in the year to March 2022. Economic conditions have worsened since then, with global markets selling off along with a sharp increase in interest rates.

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