Vodafone agrees £1bn takeover of C&W Worldwide
Posted by Shaimaa Gamal
UK mobile phone giant Vodafone has agreed to buy telecoms group Cable & Wireless Worldwide (C&WW) in a deal valuing the firm at just over £1bn.
Vodafone was left as C&WW's only suitor after India's Tata Communications ended its interest in the firm last week.
Under the terms of the deal, Vodafone will pay 38 pence per C&WW share, giving the firm a value of £1.044bn.
The takeover will add a UK fixed-line network to Vodafone's existing mobile network.
In a statement,Vodafone chief executive Vittorio Colao said: "The acquisition of Cable & Wireless Worldwide creates a leading integrated player in the enterprise segment of the UK communications market and brings attractive cost savings to our UK and international operations."
C&WW specialises in networking and broadband for corporate clients, including Tesco and the UK police service.
It split from Cable & Wireless Communications (C&WC) in 2010 but has struggled since the seperation. It has issued a number of profit warnings and is now on its third chief executive.
