LONDON (Alliance News) - Telefonica SA and Hutchison Whampoa Ltd are understood to have held talks about merging their UK businesses as the Spanish owner of O2 considers its options following BT Group PLC's decision to buy EE Ltd, the Financial Times reported on Sunday.
Telefonica has been considering various options for the future of O2 in the UK since last summer and held talks with BT to sell the business in December before BT decided to pursue a deal with EE.
The FT cited a person with knowledge of the matter who said "everyone is still speaking to everyone", including Hutchison Whampoa, the owner of Three. The person said other potential partners for O2 include TalkTalk Telecom Group PLC and Sky PLC.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/99c8c588-9f15-11e4-ba25-00144feab7de.html#axzz3PFKLr0bz
By Sam Unsted; samunsted@alliancenews.com; @SamUAtAlliance
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