C&W to raise 200m as it unveils demerger plan
Telecoms group Cable & Wireless (C&W) is to split itself in two in a de-merger and tap the bond market to fund the deal.
C&W will de-merge its worldwide unit, which supplies services to blue-chip companies in Europe, Asia and the US, from its international division, which provides fixed-line, mobile and broadband services in the Caribbean, Macau, Panama and Monaco.
The group, which put on hold its de-merger plans a year ago due to difficult markets, plans about £1.1bn of new and replacement cash and bank credit lines to underpin the separation. The company also plans to raise £200m ($336.6m) through a convertible bond. It expects to complete the split by the end of March next year.
The group, Britain’s second-biggest corporate telecoms provider after BT, said there would be “absolutely no consequences” for its 14,000-strong workforce or its sites around the world.
Executive chairman of the worldwide division John Pluthero said one of the reasons for the de-merger was that the businesses have different profiles and appealed to different types of investors. “We wanted to give investors a clear choice about what to invest in,” he said.
JOHN PLUTHERO
EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN C&W WORLDWIDE
John Pluthero will take over the role of chairman of the newly demerged Worldwide division of C&W after becoming its executive chairman and joint group managing director in April 2006. He was also appointed executive chairman of CWI in November 2007, but quit that role in November 2008 to focus on Worldwide. Pluthero joined C&W in 2005 through its acquisition of Energis, where he served as chief executive from 2002. Before that, he founded and served as chief executive of major UK internet service provider Freeserve.