On Thursday, according to a report from the Financial Times, in a deal worth $29.57 billion (24 billion pounds), the British units of Liberty Global Plc and Telefónica SA will merge with Telefónica SA.

Both companies are expected to announce the merger deal on Thursday following five months of negotiations, said the FT’s report citing sources with knowledge of the matter at hand.

The merger deal is expected to produce 700 million pounds in synergies, with the parents of both companies having equal ownership of the combined entity, said the report.

Telefónica will receive 5.5 billion pounds in cash to help it reduce its heavy debt load.

Neither Liberty Global nor Telefónica responded to requests for comments.

According to the report, Liberty Global will take 1.5 billion pounds in cash after splitting out of Virgin Media’s Irish business, which would not be included in the merger with O2.

Earlier this week, Telefonica had confirmed that it was in advanced talks with Liberty Global’s billionaire owner John Malone, over a possible merger of their respective businesses in Britain.

The deal allows Telefonica to channel cash from 02 while maintaining a presence in Britain, while Virgin gains access to its own wireless network, saving the money it has spent until now on leasing capacity for its mobile operations.