The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), Singapore’s GIC, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) and Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec are investing in a UK mobile phone operator.

The four investors have joined Brazilian investment bank BTG Pactual in the £3.1bn ($4.78bn) purchase of a 33% stake in the UK’s combined Three and O2 networks.

The funds are investing alongside Hong Kong holding company Hutchison Whampoa (HWL), which owns Three and is paying Telefonica £9.25bn for O2 in a deal backed by £6bn in bank finance.

GIC and the CPPIB will each invest £1.1bn. 

The ADIA is investing through its wholly owned Limpart Holdings subsidiary, while Québec’s La Caisse is investing through Ivanhoé Cambridge.

The latter said the deal gave it a 12% stake.

Mark Jenkins, CPPIB’s senior managing director and global head of private investments, said: “This is an exceptional opportunity to acquire a meaningful stake in what will become a leading mobile operator in the UK, giving us immediate scale in an important sector.

“We expect this investment will generate attractive, long-term, risk-adjusted returns.”

CPPIB said the deal would close next year, pending EU regulatory approval.

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