Three Ireland completes purchase of O2

Three Ireland has completed the acquisition of O2 in Ireland, which was previously owned by Telefonica.

According to Three CEO Robert Finnegan: “This is a big day for the Irish telecoms market. We will now get down to the task of combining the strengths and talents of the two businesses to create a major force in the Irish mobile market, which will be good for competition, good for consumers and good for Ireland.“

Three announced in June 2013 that it had entered into an agreement with Telefónica to buy O2 in Ireland for €780m.

A further additional deferred payment of €70m is payable dependent upon achievement of agreed financial targets.

The European Commission approved the acquisition, subject to certain conditions, on May 28.

The acquisition of O2 in Ireland takes Three's market share to 37% and brings subscriber numbers to over 2m active users.