Virgin Media O2 - comment
VMED is the natural purchaser of Vodafone's spare spectrum; OFCOM needs to approve the deal but is unlikely to block it. VMED will now hold 30% of UK spectrum, and the £343m cost is in line with expectations. The purchase is incremental to the £2bn network investment announced as part of the 2025 guidance. Liberty/Telefonica had reduced guidance for shareholder distributions from £850m in 2024 to £400m in 2025, and we expect this was partially due to the expectation of the spectrum purchase.