UK regulator finds Vodafone and Three merger would lead to price rises, seeks remedies for deal
Britain’s competition watchdog on Friday said it found competition concerns with the proposed merger between Vodafone and the Three UK mobile network owned by CK Hutchison.
The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said the deal would lead to price increases for tens of millions of customers or see some users get reduced services. The regulator also warned of a negative impact for so-called Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs), which piggyback on existing infrastructure.
“The CMA has provisionally concluded that the merger would lead to a substantial lessening of competition in the UK – in both retail and wholesale mobile markets,” the regulator said in a press release.
Vodafone and CK Hutchison’s transaction, which was announced last year, would merge the two brands’ U.K. businesses, giving Vodafone a 51% controlling stake and leaving CK Hutchison with the minority interest.
But the CMA opened an antitrust probe in to the deal in January and announced an in-depth investigation in April.
The regulator said Friday the merger would result in higher prices or reduced services, and could “negatively affect those customers least able to afford mobile services.”
Vodafone and Three U.K.’s merger would also reduce the number of major telecommunications network players from four to three, the regulator said, adding that this could make it harder for MVNOs to secure competitive deals which may reduce their ability to offer competitive rates to customers.
The CMA did however recognize that the deal “could improve the quality of mobile networks and bring forward the deployment of next generation 5G networks and services,” which the two merging networks have claimed.
However, the CMA said those claims could be “overstated” and that the merged firm would “not necessarily have the incentive to follow through on its proposed investment programme after the merger.”
The CMA has not blocked the deal.
Vodafone response
Vodafone said that the merged entity will invest £11 billion ($14.46 billion) into U.K. telecommunications infrastructure.
“It delivers massive benefits for consumers, in towns, in cities, across the country,” Ahmed Essam, CEO of European markets for Vodafone, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” on Friday.
Vodafone has argued that the U.K.’s digital infrastructure continues to lag behind other major economies and that its investment would help boost areas like next-generation 5G networks and broader coverage to more parts of the country.
Vodafone said in a separate statement Friday that it disagrees with the findings that the merger would lead to price increases for consumers. The merger would not affect its pricing strategy and that there would be enhanced competition between MVNOs, the firm said.
“I think every consumer in the U.K. today recognizes that there are not only four players … there are more than a hundred players in the market offering a lot of offers. And with this merger, we bring a third scaled quality network that is able to compete and drive better outcomes for customers,” Essam said.
What’s next?
The CMA said it will now consult on the provisional findings and potential solutions to its competition concerns, including remedies. These could include legally binding investment commitments and measures to protect both retail and wholesale customers.
The CMA could block the merger if its concerns are not addressed, the regulator said.
Essam said Vodafone is ready to make its promise of £11 billion in infrastructure investment legally binding and roll it out at the pace it has promised.
“We work closely with the CMA … they are provisional findings meaning that we work with the CMA over the coming three months to address any of their concerns,” Essam said.
The CMA will issue its final report by Dec. 7 this year.
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Andy Jassy, CEO of Amazon, speaks during an unveiling event in New York on Feb. 26, 2025.
Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said Tuesday that he’s working to root out bureaucracy from within the company’s ranks as part of an effort to reset its culture.
Speaking at Amazon’s annual conference for third-party sellers in Seattle, Jassy said the changes are necessary for the company to be able to innovate faster.
“I would say bureaucracy is really anathema to startups and to entrepreneurial organizations,” Jassy said. “As you get larger, it’s really easy to accumulate bureaucracy, a lot of bureaucracy that you may not see.”
A year ago, as part of a mandate requiring corporate employees to work in the office five days a week, Jassy set a goal to flatten organizations across Amazon. He called for the company to increase worker-to-manager ratios by at least 15% by the end of the first quarter of this year.
Jassy also announced the creation of a “no bureaucracy email alias” so that employees can flag unnecessary processes or excessive rules within the company.
Amazon has received about 1,500 emails in the past year, and the company has changed about 455 processes based on that feedback, Jassy said.
The changes are linked to Jassy’s broad strategy to overhaul Amazon’s corporate culture and operate like the “world’s largest startup” as it looks to stay competitive.
Jassy, who took the helm from founder Jeff Bezos in 2021, has been on a campaign to slash costs across the company in recent years. Amazon has laid off more than 27,000 employees since 2022, and axed some of its more unprofitable initiatives. Jassy has also urged employees to do more with less at the same time that the company invests heavily in artificial intelligence.
Transforming Amazon into a startup-like environment isn’t an easy task. The company operates sprawling businesses across retail, cloud computing, advertising, and other areas. It’s the U.S. second-largest private employer, with more than 1.5 million employees globally.
“You have to keep remembering your roots and how useful it is to be scrappy,” Jassy said.
The StubHub logo is seen at its headquarters in San Francisco.
Andrej Sokolow | Picture Alliance | Getty Images
Online ticket platform StubHub is pricing its IPO at $23.50, CNBC’s Leslie Picker confirmed on Tuesday.
The pricing comes at the midpoint of the expected range that the company gave last week. At $23.50, the pricing gives StubHub a valuation of $8.6 billion. StubHub will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “STUB.”
The San Francisco-based company was co-founded by Eric Baker in 2000, and was acquired by eBay for $310 million seven years later. Baker reacquired StubHub in 2020 for roughly $4 billion through his new company Viagogo, which operates a ticket marketplace in Europe.
StubHub has been trying to go public for the past several years, but delayed its public debut twice. The most recent stall came in April after President Donald Trump‘s “Liberation Day” tariffs roiled markets.
The company filed an updated prospectus in August, effectively restarting the process to go public.
The IPO market has bounced back in recent months after an extended dry spell due to high inflation and rising interest rates. Klarna made its debut on the NYSE last week after the online lender also delayed its IPO in April. Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss’ Gemini, stablecoin issuer Circle, Peter Thiel-backed cryptocurrency exchange Bullish and design software company Figma have all soared in their respective debuts.
At the top of the pricing range StubHub offered last week, the company would have been valued at $9.2 billion. StubHub had sought a $16.5 billion valuation before it began the IPO process, CNBC previously reported.
StubHub said in its updated prospectus that first-quarter revenue increased 10% from a year earlier to $397.6 million. Operating income came in at $26.8 million for the period.
The company’s net loss widened to $35.9 million from $29.7 million a year ago.
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