CK Hutchison said on Tuesday that Vodafone had agreed to buy its stake in UK mobile operator VodafoneThree for £4.3 billion (€4.9 billion).
The FTSE 100 group holds a 51 per cent stake in VodafoneThree and a subsidiary of the Hong Kong conglomerate has the remainder.
According to the announcement, Vodafone will buy out CK Hutchison and cancel the shares, giving it full control of the operator.
The deal is set to be completed in the second half of this year subject to UK regulatory approval, Vodafone said.
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CK Hutchison held a controlling stake in Three prior to a merger plan with Vodafone being announced in 2023. UK regulators approved the £16.5 billion tie-up at the end of 2024.
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When the merger was first announced, the companies said Vodafone would have the option to acquire CK Hutchison’s stake after three years if the merged group reached an enterprise value of £16.5 billion.
The deal is the latest instance of CK Hutchison offloading assets.
Canning Fok, deputy chair of CK Hutchison and executive chair of its telecoms division, said VodafoneThree was the UK’s biggest mobile operator by subscriber numbers and the sale would allow it to “realise the value of our investment”.
Frank Sixt and Dominic Lai, co-managing directors of CK Hutchison Group, called it a “win-win” for both companies.
Vodafone and Three compete as separate entities in the Irish market.
Shares in Vodafone are up close to 20 per cent this year and have gained just over 60 per cent in the past 12 months. - Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2026
