Vodafone, CK Hutchison in final stages of agreeing UK merger - report

Vodafone and CK Hutchison are reportedly in the final stages of agreeing to merge their British operations, with a long-awaited announcement expected as soon as Friday or early next week.

According to Reuters, the structure of the agreed deal is in line with Vodafone's announcement in October, with the British group owning 51% and Hutchison owning 49%, achieved by adjusting the ownership of debt rather than exchanging cash.

Including debt the deal could be valued at around £15bn, according to analysts.

The tie-up will create Britain's biggest mobile operator with about 27 million customers, overtaking BT's EE and VM O2, owned by Telefonica and Liberty Global.

At 0925 BST, Vodafone shares were up 2.9% at 79.17p.