Vodafone has agreed to acquire CK Hutchison's 49% stake in their joint venture VodafoneThree for 4.3 billion pounds through a share cancellation, the companies announced Tuesday. Barclays analysts Maurice Patrick and Mathieu Robilliard said the U.K. telecoms group will likely halt its current buyback program as a result.

The deal will push Vodafone's leverage to the higher end of its forecasts, making share repurchases difficult to sustain. However, the analysts noted Vodafone's fast revenue growth and proceeds from selling its stake in Dutch company Ziggo for 1 billion euros should help ease the company's debt burden.

Vodafone shares fell 1.5% following the announcement, while CK Hutchison closed 4.1% higher in Hong Kong trading. The divergent stock movements reflect investor concerns about Vodafone's increased debt against the strategic benefit of gaining full control of the Three network.