Hopes of a bidding war breaking out over Cable & Wireless Worldwide have sent the telecoms company's shares up by more than 18%.
Days after Vodafone, up 0.5p at 169.85p, said it was considering an offer, India's Tata Communications has stepped into the fray. Tata said:
As part of its ongoing review of potential acquisition opportunities, Tata is evaluating a possible cash offer for CWW. Tata would like to emphasise that considerations are at a very preliminary stage.
Tata has until 29 March to decide whether to bid or not. If the deal goes ahead it would be the biggest Indian takeover of a UK business since sister company Tata Motors bought Jaguar Land Rover.
Vodafone has to make a formal statement of intent by 12 March.
CWW's shares jumped 5.15p to 33.03p, valuing the company at £905m. CWW has issued a number of profit warnings since demerging from Cable & Wireless Communications two years ago. Espirito Santo analysts recently said their base case was that CWW could be worth around £1.8bn to Vodafone, or 68p a share.
