Telefonica, Liberty Global Sign Merger To Create UK's Largest Telecommunications Operator

The O2 cellphone operator and the fixed internet provider Virgin Media will merge to create the UK's largest telecommunications operator worth 31.4 billion pounds ($38.9 billion), according to joint press release issued by parent companies Telefonica and Liberty Global on Thursday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 07th May, 2020) The O2 cellphone operator and the fixed internet provider Virgin Media will merge to create the UK's largest telecommunications operator worth 31.4 billion pounds ($38.9 billion), according to joint press release issued by parent companies Telefonica and Liberty Global on Thursday.

The deal is a 50-50 joint venture involving cellphone provider O2, which is owned by Spanish telecommunications giant Telefonica and valued at $15.7 billion, and the UK's largest home internet provider Virgin Media, owned by US firm Liberty Global and valued at $23.2 billion.

US investment bank Goldman Sachs said earlier this week that the merger could give Telefonica and Liberty Global a market-leading 34 percent share of the UK telecommunications market.

BT Group has previously been the market leader in the United Kingdom for mobile and fixed internet services, after purchasing the mobile provider EE, itself a merger of T-Mobile and Orange, for 12.5 billion pounds ($15.4 billion) in 2015.Telefonica, Liberty Global Sign Merger To Create UK's Largest Telecommunications Operator