Hutchison Whampoa receives approaches from funds including GIC about buying stakes in merged Three/O2 business
Several sovereign wealth funds have approached Hutchison Whampoa’s advisers about buying stakes in a merger of the Hong Kong-based company’s Three mobile network and O2, Sky News reported. The report cited unspecified sources who indicated on Saturday, 31 January that several parties had already approached the conglomerate about buying shares in the proposed merged group.
It is thought that the Government Investment Corporation of Singapore (GIC) and several pension funds from Canada are among the parties to have sounded out Hutchison, the item said. The talks with sovereign wealth funds are not far advanced, according to the report.
As previously reported, Hutchison is in exclusive talks with O2’s owner, the Spanish telecoms group Telefonica, about an approximately GBP 10.25bn (EUR 13.67bn) bid for the UK-based mobile network operator.
Hutchison has indicated that it plans to sell around 30% of the merged mobile network to institutional shareholders, the item said.
Sky News