Vodafone to buy CK Hutchison’s 49% VodafoneThree stake for £4.3bn

Last year, Vodafone and Three (owned by CK Hutchison) completed the merger of their UK operations and formed a combined network. At the time, it was announced that Vodafone would have the right to acquire CK Hutchison’s 49% stake in the joint business, and it has now been announced that Vodafone has agreed to do this. Vodafone will be paying £4.3bn for the stake, and the deal is expected to complete in the second half of 2026, subject to regulatory approval. The deal is reported to value the business at £13.85bn.

Could this spell the end of the Three brand in the UK? It’s likely that over time, Vodafone will wind it down and eventually remove the brand from its VodafoneThree joint business name. The business has already confirmed that it will begin to combine many of its high street stores. Three originally started in the UK as a 3G-focused mobile network, never operating a 2G service – it used a 2G roaming agreement, originally with O2 and then Orange, until the network was large enough to be thought to not require the fallback.

“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.”

Margherita Della Valle, CEO, Vodafone Group

Vodafone has been working on focusing on its core European markets, which are the UK and Germany, having sold its stake in Vodafone Spain, Vodafone Italy and Vodafone Hungary, over the last few years, with the Spanish and Italian markets deemed to be competitive and low-return.