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| Cable & Wireless Worldwide shareholder now backs Vodafone bid | Cable & Wireless Worldwide shareholder now backs Vodafone bid |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| Mobile phone giant Vodafone looks set for victory in its £1bn bid for Cable & Wireless Worldwide following the capitulation of CWW's largest shareholder. | Mobile phone giant Vodafone looks set for victory in its £1bn bid for Cable & Wireless Worldwide following the capitulation of CWW's largest shareholder. |
| Orbis Investment Management, which holds 19.06% of CWW shares, said it would drop its opposition to the takeover and vote in favour of the deal. | Orbis Investment Management, which holds 19.06% of CWW shares, said it would drop its opposition to the takeover and vote in favour of the deal. |
| The board of CWW revealed that proxy votes received on Friday from those who could not attend the emergency meeting on Monday had been overwhelmingly in favour of the deal. Nearly 99% voted in favour, and the votes represented nearly 60% of all CWW shares. | The board of CWW revealed that proxy votes received on Friday from those who could not attend the emergency meeting on Monday had been overwhelmingly in favour of the deal. Nearly 99% voted in favour, and the votes represented nearly 60% of all CWW shares. |
| "Based on the information announced by CWW today which was shared with us on Saturday and following discussions with CWW, we now believe that the CWW Scheme of Arrangement will eventually succeed, even if Orbis were to vote against it today," the investment fund stated. "In these circumstances our opposition would only serve to prolong the process because the company would likely adjourn today's meetings to secure the necessary votes. This is not in the interests of any CWW stakeholder. Accordingly, Orbis intends to vote in favour of the scheme at the meetings today." | |
| Vodafone is paying 38p a share, 2% less than the company's average price over the past 12 months, and Orbis had complained the deal did not "reflect the value" of CWW. However, the cable network has suffered a share price collapse following a series of profit warnings. Despite securing one of the largest incentive deals on record for a listed company, its previous management under chairman John Pluthero struggled to digest a series of acquisitions and compete for corporate clients with BT. The shares were trading just under the offer price, at 37.796p, on Monday morning, a rise of nearly 8%. | |
| The acquisition will transform Vodafone's UK arm into the second largest domestic telecoms business after BT, with revenues of just under £7bn. It brings to an end the story of one of Britain's oldest telecoms businesses. | The acquisition will transform Vodafone's UK arm into the second largest domestic telecoms business after BT, with revenues of just under £7bn. It brings to an end the story of one of Britain's oldest telecoms businesses. |
| CWW traces its beginnings to a series of telegraph companies founded in the 1860s, and grew up to become the empire's communications network. Its sister company Cable & Wireless Communications, which was spun off as a separately listed group two years ago and manages retail telecoms networks in the Caribbean, will remain independent. | CWW traces its beginnings to a series of telegraph companies founded in the 1860s, and grew up to become the empire's communications network. Its sister company Cable & Wireless Communications, which was spun off as a separately listed group two years ago and manages retail telecoms networks in the Caribbean, will remain independent. |
| The merger will allow Vodafone to overtake rival mobile networks Everything Everywhere and O2 in income in the UK, and to take on BT and Virgin Media in offering telecoms and data hosting solutions to the business sector. | The merger will allow Vodafone to overtake rival mobile networks Everything Everywhere and O2 in income in the UK, and to take on BT and Virgin Media in offering telecoms and data hosting solutions to the business sector. |
| CWW's fibre-optic cables, one of the largest British owned networks with 20,500km of lines, will also give Vodafone the capacity to carry more mobile internet traffic at a lower cost. It currently rents a large amount of capacity from BT. | CWW's fibre-optic cables, one of the largest British owned networks with 20,500km of lines, will also give Vodafone the capacity to carry more mobile internet traffic at a lower cost. It currently rents a large amount of capacity from BT. |
| CWW shareholders casting their votes in person met on Monday morning and a statement is expected on Monday afternoon. |