Follow-Up:Vodafone Likely to Acquire (and Split) Cable and Wireless Worldwide.

In a follow-up to our previous post about Cable & Wireless Worldwide, being up for sale, there are now further developments in that regard. Remember that this does not affect LIME.

Vodafone to Acquire

The Telegraph is reporting that “Cable & Wireless Worldwide is expected to recommend to shareholders a £1bn takeover bid from telecoms giant Vodafone on Monday.” They also report that Vodafone is reportedly planning to break up CW&W, which owns the biggest fibre network in the UK and more than 425,000km of undersea cables connecting around 150 countries.

They continue;

It is believed one of Vodafone’s core interests in CW&W is its fibre optic network in the UK, which will help the telecoms giant cope with the explosion of internet traffic on mobile phones.

Bloomberg Businessweek reports

The world’s largest wireless operator is offering about 35 pence to 39 pence a share, the people said, declining to be identified because the talks are private. Cable & Wireless closed at 32 pence in London on April 20, giving the company a market value of 879 million pounds ($1.4 billion). It has gained 62 percent since Vodafone publicly expressed interest Feb. 13.

Vodafone became the sole bidder for London-based Cable & Wireless after Tata Communications Ltd. (TCOM) last week failed to agree on a price and decided against making an offer. Newbury, England-based Vodafone is pursuing a European fixed-line acquisition for the first time since 2010, when it ended talks to buy Germany’s Kabel Deutschland Holding AG. (KD8)

To Benefit Extensively

“Vodafone could benefit from a combination of revenue synergies, cost synergies and tax assets which together could be worth 1 billion pounds,” Bank of America Merrill Lynch analysts led by Wilton Fry wrote in an April 20 note.

We will keep you updated.