After buying a third of all UK trains this week
Hong Kong mogul Li Ka-Shing is on a shopping spree for British assets.
Earlier this week, it was revealed that he’s set to become the owner of one-third of UK trains.
Now he’s in talks to become the owner of Britain’s biggest mobile phone company.
Hutchison Whampoa, controlled by Ka-Shing, is interested in buying up Telefonica-owned O2 for £10.25bn.
Hutchison Whampoa, which also owns Three, has confirmed it has offered £9.25bn to buy O2, with a further payment of £1bn after the deal goes through.
This deal is expected to create the UK’s biggest mobile phone company, serving over 32 million customers.
EE has 28 million customers and Vodafone boasts 20 million customers.
In a filing to Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Hutchison Whampoa confirmed it’s in talks with Telefonica: “Shareholders and potential investors of the company should note that such negotiations may or may not result in any transaction, and accordingly are advised to exercise caution when dealing in the shares of the company.”
The UK telecoms watchdog, Ofcom, is expected to scrutinise the deal and may order Three and O2 to pass over some spectrum capacity to competitors.
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