LONDONHONG KONG, June 14 Reuters Vodafone and CK Hutchison finally unveiled the merger of their British operations on Wednesday, pledging to create the country39;s largest mobile operator to boost competition and invest 14 billion in the country.

The details came in a longawaited announcement after the two companies publicly revealed they were in talks in October.

Vodafone will own 51 and Hutchison 49 of the combined group, which will be led by current Vodafone UK boss Ahmed Essam, the companies said. Current Three UK finance chief Darren Purkis will take the same role in the new group.

The combined operator will have about 27 million customers, overtaking BT39;s EE and VM O2, jointly owned by Telefonica and Liberty Global.

Vodafone, which is currently Britain39;s thirdbiggest mobile operator, and fourthplaced Hutchison will have options which would allow Vodafone to acquire the Hong Kongbased conglomerate39;s 49 stake in the future.

The deal will face intense scrutiny from regulators who have previously opposed deals that reduce the number of networks in major markets from four to three.

Seeking to win the support of politicians, unions and the competition regulator, the two groups said they would invest 11 billion pounds 14 billion in Britain over 10 years to create what they described as one of Europe39;s most advanced standalone 5G networks.

CK Hutchison comanaging director Canning Fok said Three UK and Vodafone UK lacked the scale on their own to earn their…