London: CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd’s $14.5 billion (Dh53.25 billion) bid for Telefonica SA’s UK mobile-phone business has failed to win over European Union antitrust regulators who are expected within weeks to formally block the deal creating Britain’s biggest operator.
The European Commission wasn’t convinced that Hutchison’s offers to sell space on its network to so-called virtual operators would create enough rivalry to prevent potential price increases, according to two people familiar with the negotiations. The EU, backed by UK antitrust and telecom agencies, is holding out for Hutchison’s Three and Telefonica’s O2 to offer to sell part of their network infrastructure to a new rival, the people said.
