UK corporate telco Cable & Wireless Worldwide is being chased by US-based AT&T or another company looking to snap it up to expand internationally, according to reports.
A spokesman for CWW declined to comment on the speculation, which buoyed shares by…
UK corporate telco Cable & Wireless Worldwide is being chased by US-based AT&T or another company looking to snap it up to expand internationally, according to reports.
A spokesman for CWW declined to comment on the speculation, which buoyed shares by 7.7% to close at 71.95p yesterday, valuing it at £1.9bn. However, he added that reporters had told him the rumours had been floating around for a few days.
CWW and its counterpart Cable & Wireless Communications have been the subject of takeover speculation ever since talk arose of the demerger from Cable & Wireless, which finally took place in March.
Advising on the demerger were Rothschild and Gleacher Shacklock as joint sponsors and financial advisers to C&W, with Allen & Overy acting as legal adviser.
Barclays Capital, BNP Paribas, JPMorgan, Lloyds TSB and RBS participated as financial advisers.
Reports suggest AT&T may now be ready to pounce because CWW’s shares have lost almost a fifth of their value since June, when the company warned of the effects public spending cuts in Britain will have on its business.
Richard Linder, AT&T’s chief financial officer, was cited by Bloomberg in July saying that his group had considered international investments but had yet to find an appealing one.
AT&T was unavailable to comment before the press deadline.
