India's Tata Communications today said that it was considering a bid for global British-based telecom group Cable and Wireless Worldwide (CWW).
Tata, part of the sprawling tea-to-software conglomerate, issued a statement describing the possible bid as "part of the ongoing review of potential acquisition opportunities".
Considerations were "at a very preliminary stage", the company added, saying that a decision would have to be made by March 29 for legal reasons. CWW shares soared 18% on the London Stock Exchange after reports of Tata Communications' interest.
CWW, an international telecoms company with more than 6,000 clients, could cost more than $1.2 billion, according to media reports.
Tata Communications is likely to be challenged in any pursuit of CWW by mobile phone giant Vodafone, which said last month that it was also considering a bid.
The deal would be help Tata Communications to gain a larger footprint in the voice and data carrier businesses as well as in the undersea cable network segment, the Times of India said today. It would also represent another move into Britain for the Tata Group, which owns steelmaker Corus Steel and luxury car brands Jaguar and Land Rover.
