Vodafone Buy Out Cable & Wireless

It has been reported that the UK mobile phone operator Vodafone has agreed to buy telecoms group Cable & Wireless Worldwide (C&WW). It is thought that deal is worth in excess of £1 billion.

Vodafone was left as C&WW’s only suitable candidate to buy them out after India’s Tata Communications put an end to its offer that was on the table last week.

The agreed deal means that Vodafone will pay 38 pence per C&WW share, which values C&WW at £1.04 billion.

The deal means that Vodafone will also acquire a fixed line network. C&WW operates 20,500km of fibre-optic cables in the UK and by taking over this network means that Vodafone will have a larger capacity at a time when the increasing use of smartphones causing a rising demand in mobile data

Vodafone have also said that it was likely that there was going to be a reduction in headcount to make sure that there is no overlap within departments.

Following the news of the buyout shares in C&WW were trading up 5p at 37p in mid-morning trade.