Hong Kong's Hutchison Whampoa Limited, which just finished its acquisition of UK carrier O2 and integrated its UK telecom assets, announced that the company has entered into agreements with multiple investors who will acquire stakes totaling 33% in the combined businesses of Three and O2 UK for a total consideration of GBP3.1 billion.
According to a report published by Hutchison Whampoa, the investors are Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, GIC of Singapore, Limpart Holdings Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, CDPQ of Quebec, Canada and BTG Pactual of Brazil.
The investments are conditional on and will occur concurrently with the completion of the acquisition of O2 UK from Telefonica and its combination with Three's businesses. The investments will be used, together with a committed bank facility of GBP6 billion, to fund the acquisition of O2 UK from Telefonica.
On March 25, 2015, Spanish telecom company Telefonica announced that the company had reached a final agreement to sell its UK mobile business unit O2 to Hutchison Whampoa for GBP10.25 billion. Prior to that, Hutchison Whampoa already owned Three, a rival operator of O2.
