Tata Communications and Vodafone have both been given more time to decide whether they want to bid for British telecoms group Cable & Wireless(C&W) Worldwide. Cable & Wireless, currently valued at $1.5 billion, said on Thursday the UK takeover panel had granted its request to give the two firms until April 19 to either announce a firm intention to make a bid or walk away. Sources earlier told Reuters that Tata thinks it did not get as much time as Vodafone to evaluate a possible bid, while Vodafone thinks it still has not received enough information to decide on a bid. Part of the Tata Group, TCL had said it is evaluating a possible cash offer for CWW.According to reports, the Mumbai-based company has hired Morgan Stanley to work alongside Standard Chartered, its long-term adviser on the deal. The reports suggest that TCL has amassed a $2 billion war chest. State Bank of India and Australia and New Zealand Bank are believed to have also joined the consortium of lenders led by Standard Chartered. CWW owns fixed lines that are used by mobile operators to provide links to mobile transmitters and switching offices. It also provides voice, data and hosting services to major British companies such as Next, Tesco and United Utilities, and retains an international cable network connecting more than 150 countries. The acquisition would provide TCL, which owns undersea cable assets and offers telecom and Internet services to companies across countries, a larger footprint in voice and data carrier businesses as well as in the undersea cable network. If Tatas prevail, it would mark the latest in a series of British acquisitions by the Indian giant, which already owns Jaguar Land Rover and Corus.
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