Vodafone agrees £1bn takeover of C&W Worldwide

[Terpe]

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.

C&WW operates 20,500km of fibre-optic cables in the UK and owning this network will give Vodafone greater capacity at a time when the increasing use of smartphones is leading to a rise in demand for mobile data.

Vodafone said the deal would also lead to cost savings, as at present it has to lease fixed-line capacity from companies such as BT.

The takeover would also lead to increased capacity and cost savings for its international business, Vodafone said.

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[lastlid]

Well I used to be with Vodaphone in the UK till I came to the Isle of Man and then was forced to change to an island network, one of which is Cable and Wireless.