Vodafone may make €835m bid for C&W Worldwide
Vodafone has confirmed that it's in the early stages of "evaluating the merits" of a potential offer for Cable & Wireless Worldwide (CWW). It's been speculated that the telecoms giant could be prepared to table a £700m (€835m) bid for the business that was spun out of Cable & Wireless in 2010.
It's thought that Vodafone could use an acquisition of the unit to improve its own network capabilities in the UK.
"Vodafone regularly reviews opportunities in the sector and confirms that it is in the very early stages of evaluating the merits of a potential offer for CWW," the company said in a statement.
"There is no certainty that an offer will be made nor as to the terms on which any offer might be made."
Vodafone has until March 12 to announce a firm intention to make an offer for CWW under takeover rules.
Shares in CWW, which have tanked in the past 12 months amid a raft of profit warnings, soared nearly 50pc in London yesterday, giving the company a market capitalisation of £768m.
Cable & Wireless, which has assets ranging from the largest British core fibre network to an overseas enterprise unit, previously rejected a bid for part of the company. Vodafone lacks a core fixed-line network in the UK, needed to carry surging data traffic. (Additional reporting, Bloomberg)
- John Mulligan
Irish Independent
