LONDON-Following an offer made by Nippon Telegraph and Telephone for Japanese carrier International Digital Communications, Cable & Wireless plc announced it is raising its previous offer for IDC and extending the term of the offer to June 15 from June 5, to comply with relevant securities regulations.
The new Cable & Wireless offer is for $917.16 per share, up from the original offer of $890.56 per share. IDC is valued at approximately $570.3 million.
“As of May 31, based on verbal commitments from shareholders responding to our original offer, we strongly expected to achieve our minimum requirement,” said Cable & Wireless Director Stephen Pettit. “NTT’s revised proposal announced last night has disrupted this process. The fact that NTT’s proposal does not constitute a firm offer under Japanese law serves only to confuse IDC shareholders. However, with our new offer, Cable & Wireless has reconfirmed that it is providing the best alternative for shareholders.”
Settlement is scheduled to commence on June 21, said Cable & Wireless.
In other news, Cable & Wireless reportedly will cut its office staff in the United Kingdom by 80 percent. The company said it “hopes to concentrate resources among individual business divisions rather than duplicate central functions,” but it said cost savings were not a significant factor.
