It may have divided opinion in the telecoms industry but the merger between T-Mobile and Orange has been officially completed.
The two companies, owned by Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom respectively, got the go ahead from the EU at the start of March but only finalised the whole deal at the end of last week.
The 50:50 joint venture will see the companies leapfrog their competitors to have a leading market share of 37 per cent with more than 28 million customers.
Tom Alexander, chief executive of Orange UK, will take the helm at the new company with T-Mobile's chief executive, Richard Moat, taking on the role of chief financial officer and deputy chief executive.
A deal has also been reached to rotate the chair of the board of directors after two years, starting with Tim Httges, chief financial officer of Deutsche Telekom, followed by Gervais Pellissier, Deputy chief executive and chief financial officer of France Telecom.
Last year saw much speculation about the future T-Mobile, with every UK mobile company's name being thrown in the hat for a buyout and even suggestions the firm might go bust.
