Orange and T-Mobile UK seal merger

Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom have formalised the merger of T-Mobile UK and Orange, two months after the deal’s announcement.

Orange

The mobile giants have been in exclusive negotiations to finalise the deal since September (nma.co.uk 8 September 2009). It will create the UK’s largest mobile operator if aproved by regulators.

The combined operation will take a 37% market share, ahead of current market leader O2, which has a 27% share, and Vodafone with 25%. Revenue for the combined company is expected to be €9.4bn (£8.42bn) annually.

Both companies will take a 50:50 stake in the as-yet unnamed joint venture.

Timotheus Höttges, CFO of Deutsche Telekom, said, “The spirit of this partnership is reflected in the way we conducted and concluded our talks. Our joint venture, which has now passed a major milestone, will set new standards in the UK mobile sector.”

Gervais Pellissier, deputy CEO of France Telecom, said, “This is an important step towards our objective of establishing an excellent platform to deliver operational synergies and offer innovative and high-quality services to our customers.”

This story first appeared on newmediaage.co.uk