Vodafone UK Takes Full Control of VodafoneThree as CK Hutchison Exits Stake
The recently merged mobile and broadband operator VodafoneThree (Vodafone and Three UK) have today announced that Vodafone has reached an agreement to “buy out” CK Hutchison (Three) from the joint venture for £4.3 billion (€4.9bn) in cash via a cancellation of shares. The deal will increase Vodafone Group’s pro forma net debt, but give them full control.
Just to recap. VodafoneThree has a post-merger plan to invest £11bn into upgrading the UK’s 5G mobile infrastructure and coverage over the next decade (here, here and here). The combined business has also previously stated that it aspires to reach more than 99.95% of the UK population with their 5G Standalone (5GSA / 5G+) network by 2034 and push fixed wireless access (mobile home broadband) to 82% of households by 2030, among other things.
The operator today states that “significant progress has been made in integrating the two businesses” since the merger, which is said to have “led to considerable improvements in network quality” and “overall customer experience and loyalty across all of our brands” – much of which has so far been delivered ahead of schedule, although there’s a lot more left to complete on this front.
Advertisement
Suffice to say that today’s agreement doesn’t change their merger plans or commitments (network upgrades etc.) and the operator still expects to realise £700m annual cost and capital expenditure synergies by full year 2030. But Vodafone also says they believe “now is the right time to take full ownership of VodafoneThree, enabling us to move at an even faster pace to transform the UK’s digital infrastructure and realise value for our shareholders“.
Margherita Della Valle, Chief Executive of Vodafone Group, said:
“A year on from the merger, the team has made remarkable progress, as we maximise the full potential of VodafoneThree and capture the significant synergies. I’m delighted that we will now have full ownership of VodafoneThree as we roll out one of Europe’s most advanced 5G networks, provide the UK’s best customer experience and drive long-term value for our shareholders.”
According to the announcement, Max Taylor will continue in his role as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of VodafoneThree, supported by the existing VodafoneThree leadership team. There will be no change to VodafoneThree’s multi-brand strategy, ensuring continuity for customers across all brands. Completion is still subject to the receipt of approvals under the UK National Security and Investment Act, but that’s more of a formality for this sort of change and the transaction should complete during the second half of 2026.
The transaction is however expected to increase Vodafone Group’s pro forma net leverage by 0.4x. At completion of the merger, CKHGT contributed its business with £1.7bn of debt and Vodafone contributed its business with £4.3bn of debt. Since completion of the merger the parties have contributed £0.8bn of equity and as at 31st March 2026, net debt was £5.08bn. The transaction implies an enterprise value for VodafoneThree of £13.85bn. Vodafone will fund the transaction from existing cash resources.
The move will naturally help CK Hutchison to reduce their own debts, although over time we wouldn’t be surprised if Three’s brand ultimately ends up being phased out or downgraded to that of a more vanilla virtual operator on the network.
Advertisement
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook, BlueSky, Threads.net and Linkedin.
« NET CHECK Awards Vodafone UK as London’s Best Mobile Network for 2026
Advertisement
Leave a Reply
Privacy Notice: Please note that news comments are anonymous, which means that we do NOT require you to enter any real personal details to post a message and display names can be almost anything you like (provided they do not contain offensive language or impersonate a real person's legal name). By clicking to submit a post you agree to storing your entries for comment content, display name, IP and email in our database, for as long as the post remains live.
Only the submitted name and comment will be displayed in public, while the rest will be kept private (we will never share this outside of ISPreview, regardless of whether the data is real or fake). This comment system uses submitted IP, email and website address data to spot abuse and spammers. All data is transferred via an encrypted (https secure) session.
They should rename VodafoneThree to Vodafone.
This was the game all along.
They will. Three is going. It’ll be Vodafone. Except with Vodafone pricing and not three’s. A net loss of competition, a net increase in prices and a net loss for the consumer that the government bodies once again waved through.
“a net loss for the consumer” – Not entirely. We didn’t use to have any mobile signal at all around our home, then just before the merger, Vodafone built a mast nearby. Shortly after the merger, we suddenly gained a stable mobile signal, and I’d expect many rural residents from both Three and Vodafone have benefited in this way.
Andrew – not exactly an argument for the merger though. You had coverage prior to it (just). Three customers who wanted to avail of it could have moved to Vodafone or one of its MVNOs. That will be the end result of this merger anyway but now you won’t have the choice of that fourth network.
If the government would get on and reform the planning system so that new masts and upgrades were not treated as if it was a proposal to build a landfill, you’d likely have had coverage much sooner and probably from more networks too.
@Andrew Young
Assuming they don’t shut down masts like reports I recall after Orange and Tmobile merged which did cause issues for some.
If the combined network can offer coverage competitive with EE then in some ways the merger increases effective competition. EE or Vodafone is a better choice than EE or one of three significantly worse networks.
I know what they should rename it to, but it is not printable.
I told you so. It was a takeover by any other name and was always the plan.
All done to hoodwink and bypass the CMA and OFCOM scrutiny of “competition”.
Didnt take long to execute the machinations.
So competitor, known for more consumer friendly pricing, is now effectively taken out.
Should be renamed just Vodafone now as no Three element at all.
But folks, the CMA and Ofcom said it’s all great for consumers; yep that (theoretical) pee raining down on your head is rain because CMA and Ofcom says it is!!!!!!!!
RIP Three… Seems overnight I’ve just become part of Vodafone without any choice… I have no idea if this is a good thing or not. All I know is the days of £13 for unlimited data no speed caps are probably gone 🙁
£16 on talkmobile, Vodafone’s MVNO.
Been part of Vodafone since the take over, opps, MERGE.
Vodafone is one of the worse mobile network companies in the U.K, which is bad really considering, we now only have three of them.
It is disgusting the merger was allowed, but then what do you expect in this country, money talks
I will stay with Smarty as long as they keep it going and the signal is okay, very little choice with networks now, so just go for something that is cheap and does what I need if I have to change. Thankfully, I am not one of those people that uses a load of data on my mobile phone.
£12.50 with revolut mobile admittently with a 100mb download speed. However, some uses are suggesting that the speed isn’t restricted.
@Carl
May want to read the small print , hilarious calling it unlimited data
iii. If your unlimited data usage exceeds 150GB per subscription period twice or more in a six (6) month period, we reserve the right to investigate and determine whether you are using data in a way that violates this policy.
Wow, I thought it would be around 2 to 3 years before VF bought out Hutchison. Imagine if they do make it an MVNO!
Who didn’t see that coming? So we’re officially going to be down to just three networks, and given that O2 is so badly oversubscribed and comes dead last in all tests, might as well call it two!
Congratulations Ofcom and CMA!
Hmmm how did I see this coming years ago yet so many seem shocked.
This is just awful be being part of Vodafone crap company and rubbish signal and higher prices
The merger was passed in 2024 and say went through in 2025. It says “Vodafone has an option to buy out Hutchison’s stake, three years after completion of the merger”.
How are they allowed to buy out the rest of the stake so quickly? 3 years would mean the earliest date should be 2028.
Because the deal was structured either with American-style options (rather than European, due on expiration date) or there may have been an early redemption clause in the merger deal.
Because the wording basically said that after 3 years Vodafone could force Three to sell there shares of the company (usually for premium), or Three could force Vodafone to buy the shares.
However there is nothing saying they can come to a mutual agreement to complete this on an eariler timescale.
Exactly – and the whole reason CK Hutchinson did this ‘merger’ is because they wanted to exit, and have done for years. Delusional to think otherwise.
Of course it was the intention all along, as this purchase option was stated in the core merger agreement: Vodafone had a call option that obliged CKH to sell (‘put’) their 49% stake after 3 years. This changes nothing materially till around 2028, when the provisos on the merger going ahead subside. Seems to be largely driven by CKH wanting out sooner and Vodafone thinking it a good idea to move now rather than wait another 18 months or so.
It seems to me pricing wise, Vodafone are trying to emulate Verizon in the US. Sky high prices, and they play fast and loose with the term “unlimited”.
“There will be no change to VodafoneThree’s multi-brand strategy”
That won’t last long. CK Hutchison own the Three brand, Vodafone will have to pay for the rights to use it.
Which they won’t.
You think the brand and the rights to said brand aren’t part of a multi billion pound buyout? Don’t kid yourself
No, I don’t. The Three brand is used in other countries. They’re not going to sell it to Vodafone. Other evidence to suggest this is the closing of the Three HQ and the merging of Vodafone and Three shops.
Is there a chance that the UK government are happy with Vodafone having 100% ownership due to concerns they may have regarding Threes owners. Not making any specific comment, only a thought I had.
Certainly possible; Hong Kong has rather gone downhill in recent years – politically, I mean.
“one of Europe’s most advanced 5G networks” -that won’t be IPv6, that will have speed caps, that will cost a fortune, that because we’re Vodafone and still think the world runs on phone calls and SMS the data experience will be at best an afterthought that we don’t want people using
At least Three knew and built a proper mobile broadband network for the modern world, full native IPv6 support, fast speeds, an IMS that allowed practically all phones to use VoLTE instead of a whitelisted set
Li Ka-Shing (CK Hutchinson is his holding company), now only has one last bastion of investment in the UK: UKPowerNetworks, the Electricity DNO for London. With that gone, no more influence from this once venerable HK (now Chinese) billionaire.
That said, I’m a little surprised Yodafone can afford it.
I think you will find that UKPN is in the process of being acquired by ENGIE.
Is this the end of the £15 a month unlimited sim? I’ve got a £15 deal with Smarty I’ve had for the last 3 years that I use in my 5G router.
Will Vodafone keep the Hutchinson owned Superdrug Mobile or Smarty? I doubt it.
We will see, there is other fish in the sea if they decide to get rid of smarty. At the end of the day they must be getting more money from people on smarty, than if these people moved elsewhere even if it was another MVNO on their network.
I suppose it depends how much admin costs.
It could backfire and people go for another MVNO on a different network.
From their terms:
> ‘we’, ‘us’ or ‘our’, we mean Superdrug Stores plc, trading as Superdrug Mobile
So I don’t think Superdrug Mobile is _owned_ by Hutchinson?
I’m with Three and my contract ends in August, but I’ve really no idea where to go next.
I moved from EE to Three as they were awful customer service wise and messed me about for a few weeks before I finally gave up. Plus they were bad indoors in several of the places I visit regularly.
O2 are slow to put it mildly, although I’m not sure what standalone has achieved in my area since I left.
Vodafone are secretly trying to win me over as they seem to have enabled their network where they were bad and Three had a usable signal.
I did promise myself that I’m done with the major networks and long contracts though, so it’s definitely going to be an MVNO!
called it when it was first announced.
so long three, you were good while you lasted.
expensive slow vodafone and CGNAT IP addresses to follow
Why is anyone surprised by this? This is what Hutchinson has wanted for years, they wanted out of the UK market and took the opportunity to get out. And they now have what they wanted. So don’t be too upset with Vodafone as they just took the opportunity Hutchinson presented to them.
We need to see how it turns out for us consumers, if Threes network is impacted and cut back, if Smarty et el are closed down etc. They do need to massively increase the 5G coverage though, it’s a bit embarrassing how much reach EE has on that front compared to Three and Vodafone.
Isn’t time govement starts thinking about windfall tax on telecoms sector?
No. Need a windfall for a windfall tax to actually tax and those don’t happen in telecoms.
Windfall Tax 1997.
https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn00338/
Been with Three for years almost since they first started and it was always pretty good for a rural property without any fibre, since Vodafone came on the scene it now runs at about 10% of what it was. Now ordered Starlink as the network is total rubbish.
I just locked myself into ID mobile 8 pounds for six months and 16 pounds for the remaining 18 months with three pricing sim unlimited deals £32 prices will all increase end of this year with all NVMO networks.