Tick from shareholders for 3's joint venture with Vodafone

Hutchison Telecommunications (Australia) Limited announced that its shareholders have voted in favour of an agreement to merge the Australian telecommunications businesses of 3 and Vodafone, to form a 50/50 joint venture to be known as Vodafone Hutchison Australia (VHA).

“We are very pleased that shareholders have voted in favour of the proposed merger. The Foreign Investment Review Board and the European Commission have given their approval, and we will be responding to the Statement of Issues released by the ACCC yesterday, in particular our view that the merger will deliver more competition, more investment and a better deal for consumers,” said Canning Fok, Group Managing Director of Hutchison Whampoa and Chairman of Hutchison Telecommunications (Australia) Limited.

“In the meantime, we continue to focus on delivering the benefits of 3 to our customers, operating our business and planning for the merged company to continue our value and innovation leadership in the future if the merger is approved.”

The proposed merged company will have approximately 6 million customers, revenues of approximately $4 billion and a market share of 27%.