Spanish telecoms firm poised for O2 takeover

Mobile phone group O2 looked set for Spanish ownership today after Telefonica struck a deal worth £17.7bn (€26.1bn).

The UK and Ireland’s second largest operator, which demerged from BT in 2001, has been seen as a target for months after Germany’s Deutsche Telekom and Dutch group KPN revealed they had tried and failed to put together a joint bid.