Vodafone completes £15bn mega-merger with Three to become UK’s biggest phone network
VODAFONE has completed its £15billion mega-merger with rival Three UK and pledged to invest billions in infrastructure.
The newly-created joint business VodafoneThree said the deal would create a “new force in UK mobile”.
It is now the biggest mobile phone network in the UK with around 27million customers.
But the deal cuts the UK’s four main network operators down to just three, with the new joint business competing with BT/EE and Virgin Media O2.
The tie-up was first announced in 2023 but faced a probe by the competition watchdog, which was worried about the negative effect on consumers.
The Competition and Markets Authority feared it could substantially reduce options for mobile customers and lead to higher bills.
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The CMA gave the thumbs up in December, as long as the two firms agreed to invest billions of pounds to roll out a combined 5G network across the UK.
They were also told to offer shorter-term customer protections requiring the merged company to cap certain mobile tariffs for three years.
VodafoneThree has pledged to invest £11billion over the next decade to help boost its 5G capability, with £1.3billion being spent this financial year.
Margherita Della Valle, Vodafone group chief executive, said: “We are now eager to kick off our network build and rapidly bring customers greater coverage and superior network quality.”
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Vodafone owns 51 per cent of the newly-merged company and, after three years, will have the option to buy the rest.
It is headed by Vodafone UK chief Max Taylor.
£7.1M M&S DEAL FOR BOSS STU
THE boss of M&S has seen his pay packet soar to a whopping £7.1million — despite the recent cyber attack that could cost the firm £300million.
CEO Stuart Machin got the bumper payout after a rise in performance-linked bonuses.
His total pay deal, including bonuses and benefits, leapt by 39 per cent in the year to March.
The package included £4.6million of long-term performance-based bonuses, which he can’t cash in for at least two years, as well as a £1.6million bonus linked to M&S’s performance over the years.
Mr Machin, who has been in the job since 2022, was also handed around £894,000 of fixed pay and pensions benefit for the year, and is in line for a 2 per cent pay hike this year.
M&S said: “CEO pay is decided by the board and reflects performance against stretching pre-set targets.
“More than 5,000 colleagues, including store managers, have received a bonus.”
A BITTER PILL FOR THE CITY
DRUG maker Indivior will be the latest big name to abandon London’s stock exchange for the US.
The firm, worth £1.2billion, moved its primary listing to the US Nasdaq index last year, but now plans to cancel its secondary listing in the City.
The company said cancelling the London listing eliminates “cost and complexity” and better reflects the business.
Indivior, which makes prescription medicines to treat opioid addiction, generates more than 80 per cent of its revenues in the US.
It is based there, and its London listing only comes from being spun out of UK consumer goods giant Reckitt.
Losing another big name will be another big blow to the London Stock Exchange.
Russ Mould, investment director of finance experts AJ Bell, said: “It’s another headwind for the exchange operator in trying to reinvigorate the UK stock market.
“The pressure is on to attract new names to the market and keep existing ones.”
Last year, 88 companies delisted from the London Stock Exchange or transferred their primary listing.
IT’S GONE PLATINUM
ANGLO AMERICAN has sold off 51 per cent of its stake in South African mining firm Valterra Platinum — which has started its own share listing in London.
Mining giant Anglo retains a 19.9 per cent stake in Valterra, which it plans to sell off in the future, partly in response to fighting off a £39billion hostile takeover from rival BHP.
Valterra boss Craig Miller said after the de-merger: “As an independent company with a new name, we offer an exciting investment proposition.”
The production of platinum jewellery is climbing, thanks to the metal now being relatively cheap compared with gold.
SAVERS in April stashed a record £14billion into cash Isas, the Bank of England reports.
It is the highest amount since records began in 1999.
Brits were keen to take advantage of accounts with tax-free schemes at the start of the new financial year.
FACTORY DIP No7
UK manufacturing output has shrunk for the seventh consecutive month, figures show.
But May’s PMI index, which measures activity at factories, was less negative than April.
The S&P Global UK manufacturing PMI survey showed a reading of 46.4, after 45.4 in April. A reading under 50 suggests the sector contracted.
Weak demand, trade uncertainty and rising costs weigh on the sector, Lloyds Bank said.
But Rob Dobson of S&P Global Market Intelligence said: “There are signs of manufacturing turning a corner.”
MONZO BONANZA
PROFITS at digital bank Monzo quadrupled to £60.5million in the year to the end of March as it attracted 2.4million new customers.
The UK’s seventh-largest bank said deposits grew by almost half to £16.6billion and that a third of its 12million customers now use Monzo as their primary bank.
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It took £329million on subscription plans, which offer perks with cinema chain VUE and bakery Greggs.
Monzo’s chief executive TS Anil said the bank was “just getting started”.
RAISING THE ROOF
PROPERTY values climbed by 3.5 per cent in the year to May, up from the 3.4 per cent annual figure recorded in April.
Prices rose 0.5 per cent month-on-month in May.
It comes after they slipped by 0.6 per cent in the previous month, which was blamed on a lowering of the stamp duty threshold.
Last month’s rise lifted the average house price to £273,427, says Nationwide Building Society.
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