TIMELINE | CABLE & WIRELESS
1860s
Sir John Pender founds a number of British telegraph companies.
1928
Various radio and telegraph companies throughout the British Empire merge into Imperial & International Communications Limited, which becomes Cable and Wireless Limited in 1934.
1947
The Labour government nationalises Cable & Wireless. All its UK assets are integrated with those of the Post Office.
1981
Cable & Wireless is one of the first nationalised companies to be privatised under Margaret Thatcher’s government. It launches a subsidiary, Mercury Communications, to rival BT.
1987
Cable & Wireless acquires TDX Network, a long distance fibre network in the US which is re-dubbed Cable & Wireless Communications.
1997-2005
Cable & Wireless expands its business by making acquisitions across Central and North America and the British Isles.
26 March 2010
Cable & Wireless Communications demerges from Cable & Wireless, which is renamed Cable & Wireless Worldwide (CWW).
28 June 2011
CWW chief executive Jim Marsh resigns, after issuing three profit warnings in just over a year, to be replaced by then-chairman John Pluthero.
14 November 2011
CWW posts a half-year pre-tax loss of £433m compared to a £53m profit the year before. Chief executive John Pluthero steps down and is replaced by Gavin Darby, formerly an executive at Vodafone.
13 February 2012
Press reports force Vodafone to admit it is considering making an offer to CWW, whose shares jump by 35 per cent.
18 April 2012
Mumbai-based Tata Communications, which had been raising money to bid for CWW, walks away from discussions.
23 April 2012
Vodafone offers 38p per share, or £1.04bn, for CWW.