Virgin Media O2 owners seal £2bn Netomnia deal in major UK fibre network consolidation

• VMO2 reportedly in the final stages of signing Netomnia acquisition deal
• Together, they could service around 20 million properties (Openreach services 30m)
• Continued expansion and consolidated power could upset customers and regulators

Virgin Media O2 parent companies Telefónica and Liberty Global, together with private equity firm InfraVia Capital, are believed to be in the process of signing a £2 billion acquisition deal of UK alternative network provider (altnet) Netomnia through their join venture Nexfibre (via Financial Times).

Netomnia claims to be the UK's second-biggest full fibre altnet and the UK's fourth-largest full fibre network across the board, covering around three million properties and over 400,000 customers via brands like Brsk and YouFibre.

By adding Netomnia's coverage to VMO2's existing infrastructure, the conglomeration could reach around 20 million properties across the UK.

VMO2 could be set to acquire Netomniaa

The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) will likely need to investigate the proposed merger, and some roadblocks are already predicted. CityFibre could lodge a complaint on the basis that it was previously reportedly in talks to merge with Netomnia or expand via another merger.

The deal might also spark dissatisfaction from existing Netomnia customers, who may have already moved from Virgin to avoid price hikes and costly services.

But even with Netomnia's networks under the VMO2 umbrella, VMO2 would still be far behind BT Openreach which services around 30 million properties (21 million of which have fibre connections).

Prior to this deal, Netomnia was targeting five million properties by the end of 2027.

Per the Financial Times report, it looks like a deal is close to being signed but it has not been officially confirmed yet. Neither company has shared any information as yet, but a decision could be made in the coming days or weeks.

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