Europe remains a hotbed of M&A activity and rumor, though while Orange Spain and MásMóvil have finally announced details of their merger, Vodafone has denied reports that it is seeking a UK acquisition. The two Spanish operators, if their proposed deal is approved, will form a €18.6bn challenger to incumbent Telefónica, and be well ahead of Vodafone Spain, which had formerly sought to buy MásMóvil. The merger would reduce the number of MNOs from four to three, which has been a regulatory sticking point in some markets, such as the UK (when Telefónica wanted to merge its O2 arm with Hutchison’s Three UK). But in others, such as Italy and Ireland, this has been allowed with certain concessions, usually a…