Vodafone, Tata Communications get more time for C&W bid

NEW DELHI: Tata Communications Ltd (TCL) and Vodafone have been given time till April 19 to finalise their bids for acquiring British telecom group Cable & Wireless Worldwide. Fibre network operator Cable & Wireless Worldwide (CWW) said in a statement on Thursday that the UK government's panel on takeovers and mergers had agreed to its request for extension of deadline, which was set to expire the same day.

CWW said the extension would give the two potential bidders more time to "establish whether or not their preliminary discussions might result in a formal offer".

"There can be no certainty that any offer will be made, nor as to the terms of any offer," the CWW statement said.

Mumbai-based TCL had told the bourses early this month that it was "evaluating a possible cash offer" for the company and that considerations were "at a very preliminary stage and there can be no certainty that an offer will be made".

TCL will have to compete with Vodafone if both companies place bids.

According to reports, TCL has been raising loans totalling about $2 billion from national and international banks, including Standard Chartered, Australia & New Zealand Banking Group, State Bank of India and DBS Bank. News agency Bloomberg said two more banks were interested in joining the consortium.

TCL is also reported to have hired Morgan Stanley to work alongside Standard Chartered as adviser on the deal. The company owns undersea cable networks and offers telecom and internet services across countries.