Saturday, May 9, 2015

Hutchison agrees £2.8bn deal to fund O2 takeover


Hutchison Whampoa will sell a one-third stake in its plan to merge Three and O2 for £2.8bn to five investors to help fund its boldest bet in Europe yet.

Hutchison, the Hong Kong conglomerate owned by billionaire Li Ka-shing, agreed in January to buy O2 for up to £10.25bn and merge it with its UK subsidiary, Three, to create the biggest mobile operator in the country.

Singapore's GIC and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board both said they will each pour £1.1bn into the deal.Mark Jenkins of CPPIB said: "This is an exceptional opportunity to acquire a meaningful stake in what will become a leading mobile operator in the UK, giving us immediate scale in an important sector,”

The other investors are the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Brazilian investment bank Grupo BTG Pactual and Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec, which manages public and private sector pension funds and insurance funds, Hutchison said in a securities filing.

Their investments were not disclosed. The deal value could grow by nearly $500m if the O2 mobile phone business meets performance targets, Hutchison added.

The Hong Kong conglomerate took on a £6bn bank loan to finance the purchase of the O2 UK business and had flagged that it was talking with private equity firms and other investors for a minority stake in the business.

telegraph.co.uk

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