和记黄埔接近敲定收购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.

和记黄埔(Hutchison Whampoa)最快将在周二上午敲定以近105亿英镑收购西班牙电信(Telefónica)旗下英国移动运营商O2的交易，缔造英国最大的移动通信网络。

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.

总部位于香港、受李嘉诚(Li Ka-shing)控制的和记黄埔，将把其旗下的英国移动公司Three与O2合并，打造一个用户超过3100万的运营商。

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.

这笔交易的知情人表示，两家公司在两个月的尽职调查期间未发现重大问题，因此这笔交易最快应在周二宣布。不过，有一人在周一告诫说，这一并购交易尚未最终敲定，成交时间可能仍会推后。

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.

和记黄埔与资助该交易的主权财富基金的谈判也已进入尾声。该公司计划将集团约30%的股份（价值大约30亿英镑）出售给外部投资者。

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.

据这笔交易的一名知情人透露，和记黄埔已经与卡塔尔、新加坡和加拿大的基金进行了洽谈，但预计在宣布交易时不会揭晓有关首选伙伴的决定。

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.

此次收购O2的交易将受到欧洲反垄断部门密切关注，因为它会把英国移动网络数量从四家降到三家，带来了竞争水平较低环境中价格上涨的前景。

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.

但布鲁塞尔竞争监管机构已在德国、爱尔兰和奥地利批准过类似交易，尽管相关企业需要作出一些有利于竞争对手的服务生存发展的让步。