Update | Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing’s Hutchison blocked by European Commission from buying British mobile operator O2
£10.25 billion deal would have been tycoon’s biggest overseas acquisition
The European Commission has rejected the proposed £10.25 billion (HK$115.14 billion) acquisition of British mobile network operator O2 by tycoon Li Ka-shing’s CK Hutchison Group, which said it would consider a legal challenge.
The decision to block the deal, which would have merged the operations of Hutchison subsidiary Three UK with O2, was based on strong concerns that British mobile customers would have had less choice and paid higher prices as a result of the takeover, the commission said.
Hutchison agreed in March last year to buy O2 from Telefonica UK to form Britain’s biggest mobile network operator, with almost 33 million customers and more than 40 per cent market share.
The blockbuster deal would have been Li’s biggest overseas acquisition, surpassing the £5.77 billion paid by Cheung Kong Infrastructure to take over UK Power Networks in October 2010.
We strongly believe that the merger would have brought major benefits to the UK
In a statement on Wednesday, Hutchison said it would study the commission’s decision in detail and consider various options, “including the possibility of a legal challenge”.