Last year, VodafoneThree became the UK’s biggest mobile operator after Vodafone and Three merged.
In the merger, Vodafone took a 51% stake with Three owner Hong Kong corporation CK Hutchison, taking a 49% stake.
Now, CK Hutchison has agreed to sell its stake in VodafoneThree, a network with more than 27 million users, to Vodafone.
Vodafone will pay in cash to CK Hutchison and will cancel the shares.
Vodafone to take control of the UK’s biggest mobile operator
The billion-pound deal comes as CK aims to reshape its global portfolio by offloading assets and boosting shareholder returns.
CK previously had the controlling stake in Three before announcing a merger with Vodafone in 2023, creating VodafoneThree.
The £16.5bn deal merged the UK’s third and fourth biggest telecom operators together, creating a new market leader.
Vodafone and CK have said that this new deal now values VodafoneThree at £13.85bn, including debts.
Back in June 2025, Vodafone promised users that it would invest more than £1bn to help expand its network coverage.
Canning Fok, the deputy chair of CK Hutchison and executive chair of its telecoms division, said: “Our group was one of the first in the world to invest in 3G mobile telecommunications with the establishment of 3UK in 2000 and introduce groundbreaking mobile broadband telephony to consumers.
“The company has grown from a startup mobile operator, and through merging and forming the present VodafoneThree, has become the number one operator in the UK by subscriber numbers and a market leader in the delivery of telecommunications products and services to UK consumers.”
Fok added that the sale allows CK to “realise the value of our investment” in VodafoneThree.
The deal is awaiting regulatory approval under the UK National Security and Investment Act, but is expected to be completed in the second half of this year.
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