Asia's Richest Man Going to Acquire O2.

O2

Billionaire Li Ka-shing announced on Friday that Hutchison Whampoa had entered exclusive negotiations to buy mobile phone operator O2 from Spain’s Telefonica for more than 10.25 billion pounds ($15 billion).

Li Ka-Shing

The terms of the deal would require Hutchison to pay a cash price of 9.25 billion pounds, and a further 1 billion pounds in deferred payments.

Nicknamed “Superman” for his deal-making intelligence, Li has recently acquired in Europe, although this one would be the largest till his all past acquisitions. 

O2 is Britain’s second biggest mobile operator, with about 22 million subscribers, and Hutchison owns Three, which is the country’s fourth-largest carrier. By combining the two companies, Hutchison would overtake EE and Vodafone to become the U.K.’s largest mobile operator based on subscribers.

Telefonica has been seeking to reduce its huge debt pile, while strengthening its position in core markets like Latin America.

structured settlement annuity companies

Source: Forbes