Vodafone Group and CK Hutchison Group have announced that the merger of Vodafone UK and Three UK successfully completed on 31 May 2025. The combined business, named VodafoneThree, is 51% owned by Vodafone and 49% by CKHGT. Vodafone will fully consolidate VodafoneThree in its financial results, and the Chief Executive Officer is Max Taylor, who currently leads Vodafone UK. Three UK’s Darren Purkis is appointed Chief Financial Officer.
VodafoneThree will invest £11 billion over the next 10 years – creating one of Europe’s most advanced 5G networks, giving millions of customers and businesses up and down the country a vastly superior mobile experience. In its first year, VodafoneThree plans to invest £1.3 billion in capex. This will enable the company to accelerate its network deployment. Consistent with previously communicated expectations, the combined business is expected to deliver cost and capex synergies of £700 million per annum by the fifth year after completion and the transaction is expected to be accretive to Vodafone’s Adjusted free cash flow from FY29 onwards.
Full alignment to Vodafone’s accounting policies is ongoing and pro forma financials will be provided in due course. New leadership team announced for the future merged entity of Vodafone UK and Three UK Max Taylor, CEO of the future merged entity, has appointed a new leadership team to lead the new company.
Margherita Della Valle, Chief Executive, Vodafone Group
The merger will create a new force in UK mobile, transform the country’s digital infrastructure and propel the UK to the forefront of European connectivity. We are now eager to kick off our network build and rapidly bring customers greater coverage and superior network quality. The transaction completes the reshaping of Vodafone in Europe, and following this period of transition we are now well-positioned for growth ahead.