和記黃埔接近敲定收購O2交易

Hutchison Whampoa will finalise a deal to buy O2 in the UK from Spain’s Telefónica for close to £10.5bn to create Britain’s largest mobile network as early as Tuesday morning.

和記黃埔(Hutchison Whampoa)最快將在週二上午敲定以近105億英鎊收購西班牙電信(Telefónica)旗下英國移動運營商O2的交易，締造英國最大的移動通信網絡。

The Hong Kong-based group controlled by Li Ka-shing will merge O2 with its existing British mobile group, Three, to create an operator with more than 31m subscribers.

總部位於香港、受李嘉誠(Li Ka-shing)控制的和記黃埔，將把其旗下的英國移動公司Three與O2合併，打造一個用戶超過3100萬的運營商。

Those close to the deal said the two companies encountered no major issues found during the two months of due diligence, which should allow the deal to be announced as early as Tuesday. However, one person cautioned on Monday that the merger had not been finalised and the timing could still slip.

這筆交易的知情人表示，兩家公司在兩個月的盡職調查期間未發現重大問題，因此這筆交易最快應在週二宣佈。不過，有一人在週一告誡說，這一併購交易尚未最終敲定，成交時間可能仍會推後。

Hutchison Whampoa is also concluding talks with sovereign wealth funds to help finance the deal. The company is set to sell about 30 per cent of the group — a stake worth about £3bn — to outside investors.

和記黃埔與資助該交易的主權財富基金的談判也已進入尾聲。該公司計劃將集團約30%的股份（價值大約30億英鎊）出售給外部投資者。

It has spoken to funds from Qatar, Singapore and Canada, according to one person with knowledge of the transaction, although it is not expected to reveal a decision on preferred partners alongside the announcement.

據這筆交易的一名知情人透露，和記黃埔已經與卡塔爾、新加坡和加拿大的基金進行了洽談，但預計在宣佈交易時不會揭曉有關首選夥伴的決定。

The O2 deal will be closely scrutinised by antitrust authorities in Europe given that it would reduce the number of mobile networks in the UK from four to three, raising the prospect of higher prices amid a lower level of competition.

此次收購O2的交易將受到歐洲反壟斷部門密切關注，因爲它會把英國移動網絡數量從四家降到三家，帶來了競爭水平較低環境中價格上漲的前景。

However, similar deals have been passed by the Brussels competition regulator in Germany, Ireland and Austria, albeit with some concessions to help rival services flourish.

但布魯塞爾競爭監管機構已在德國、愛爾蘭和奧地利批准過類似交易，儘管相關企業需要作出一些有利於競爭對手的服務生存發展的讓步。