Hutchison Whampoa is recruiting five heavyweight investors to help fund its proposed £10.25 billion ($15.4 billion) acquisition of O2 UK.

The five investors will pay £3.1 billion for a 33 per cent stake in Hutchison 3G UK Holdings, which was set up in March after Hutch reached agreement to acquire O2 from Telefonica..

Hutchison 3G UK Holdings includes UK operators O2 and Hutchison-owned 3UK.

The investors are Canada Pension Plan Investment Board; GIC of Singapore; Limpart Holdings Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority; CDPQ of Quebec, Canada; and BTG Pactual of Brazil.

“Their investments are conditional on and will occur concurrently with completion by Three of the acquisition of O2 UK from Telefónica and its combination with Three’s businesses, which is in turn subject to EU Competition approvals,” points out a Hutchison statement.

In addition, Hutchison took on a bank facility of £6 billion to help fund the acquisition of O2 UK from Telefónica.

And the asking price for O2 could grow further if it meets certain performance targets, Hutchison added.