Vodafone and Three UK complete merger

The merger between Vodafone and Three UK has officially gone through, creating a new mobile giant: VodafoneThree. The deal, which brings together two massive names in the UK market, completed on 31 May 2025.

This isn’t just a joint venture; it’s a fully merged entity, with Vodafone holding the lion’s share at 51 percent. Their partner, Three-owner CK Hutchison, holds the remaining 49 percent. Vodafone confirms it will be folding VodafoneThree’s financial performance into its own results moving forward.

Steering the ship at the newly formed company will be Max Taylor, who previously headed up Vodafone UK and seemed the natural choice to lead the combined operation. Joining him as Chief Financial Officer is Darren Purkis, hailing from Three UK.

But what does this mean for customers and the country? The headline promise is a colossal investment: £11 billion poured into the network over the next decade. The goal? To build potentially one of Europe’s most advanced 5G networks.

VodafoneThree plans to sink £1.3 billion in the first year alone on capital expenditure to hit the ground running with their network expansion.

From a financial perspective, the businesses are sticking to their guns on the anticipated savings. They still expect to achieve a £700 million boost annually by the fifth year post-completion. For Vodafone, the transaction is projected to start positively impacting its adjusted free cash flow from 2029 onwards.

Having excellent connectivity isn’t just critical to everyday life for virtually everyone, it’s also seen as a key engine for fueling the UK’s economic engine, supercharging its science and technology sectors, improving public services, and bridging the digital divide that still exists in too many places.

VodafoneThree’s commitment to a serious investment in a 5G Standalone network aims to catapult the UK’s mobile infrastructure to the forefront of European standards.

Margherita Della Valle, Chief Executive of Vodafone Group, said: “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.”

Canning Fok, Deputy Chairman of CK Hutchison, added: “As we have demonstrated in other European markets, scale enables the significant investment needed to deliver the world-beating mobile networks our customers expect, and the Vodafone and Three merger provides that scale.

“In addition, this transaction unlocks significant shareholder value, returning approximately £1.3 billion in net cash to the Group.”

Now in the CEO hot seat at VodafoneThree, Max Taylor has wasted no time in assembling his core leadership team to run the merged operation:

• Darren Purkis, CFO
• Kelly Barlow, Strategy and Portfolio
• Clare Corkish, HR
• Andrea Dona, Networks
• Nick Gliddon, Business
• Stephen Lerner, Regulatory, Government Affairs & Company Secretary
• Nicki Lyons, Corporate Affairs & Sustainability
• Stephen Reidy, IT
• Jon Shaw, Consumer Operations
• Rob Winterschladen, Consumer
• Andy Yorston, Legal, Security, Compliance & Risk

Max Taylor said: “I would like to congratulate everyone on their new appointments. The new leadership team are all looking forward, following completion of our merger, to integrating and to deliver on our commitment to build the UK’s best network for our customers.”

The completion of the merger marks the beginning of a complex integration process, bringing together the operations, networks, and customer bases of two previously distinct mobile operators. However, with the investment planned, VodafoneThree could set the standard for mobile connectivity across the UK.

See also: UK cyber unit will target hostile states: Can defences cope?

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Tags: 5G, connectivity, europe, mobile, network, networks, Operators, telecoms, Three, uk, vodafone, vodafonethree