--FILE--View of the headquarters building of Hutchison Whampoa Limited (HWL) in Hong Kong, China, 13 September 2014. Billionaire Li Ka-shing's Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. is in talks to buy O2, Telefonica SA's U.K. wireless carrier, for as much as 10.25 billion pounds (US$15 billion). Hutchison Whampoa has entered exclusive negotiations with Telefonica to buy O2 for an initial sum of 9.25 billion pounds in cash, Hutchison said in a statement. It might pay as much as 1 billion pounds extra after the completion of the deal, it said. The U.K. is primed for more deals after wireless-market leader EE began exclusive talks to be acquired by BT Group Plc, leaving smaller carriers looking for ways to compete. O2 had been in talks about a combination with BT, and was left out after the former U.K. phone monopoly chose EE. Hutchison is stepping in just two weeks after Li announced a $24 billion plan to merge his two main holdings companies.
