Spain's Telefonica sells O2 to Hutchison Whampoa for £10bn

MADRID: Spain's Telefonica said Tuesday it will sell British telecom giant O2 to Hong Kong group Hutchison Whampoa for £10 billion in a deal set to create one of Britain's biggest mobile phone firms.

"A definitive agreement has been reached after the finalisation of the process of due diligence on O2 UK," the Spanish firm said in a statement, saying the deal was worth equivalent to 14 billion euros ($15.2 billion.)