Britain's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has referred the proposed merger between British telecoms giant Vodafone Limited and CK Hutchison's Three UK, the parent company of which is headquartered in Hong Kong, to an in-depth probe.
The UK regulator stated on Thursday that, based on the information currently available to it, there is a possibility that this merger may result in a substantial lessening of competition within one or more markets in the United Kingdom.
On March 22, 2024, the CMA decided that it was or might have been the case that the merger could be expected to result in a substantial lessening of competition within one or more markets in the United Kingdom.
The merger would have been referred for a phase 2 investigation unless the parties had offered acceptable undertakings to address these competition concerns.
In January 2024, the CMA announced that it launched its first phase of investigation into the telecom major Vodafone Group PLC UK's combination with privately held telecom firm, Three UK.