In a surprise move, Singapore Telecom is considering making a play for Cable & Wireless Worldwide (CWW).
Investor speculation about a bid from southeast Asia’s largest telco drove up CWW’s London stock price as much as 7.5% overnight.
SingTel officials have declined to deny a report that the company has appointed an investment bank to advise its bid for the enterprise communications specialist.
CWW’s share price has slumped since it issued a warning last month that the UK government’s austerity measures would hit its bottom line.
CWW stock jumped last week on rumor that AT&T would make a run at the company.
CWW was formed in March this year when it demerged from Cable & Wireless, leaving the former British Empire phone company with mostly mobile assets in the Caribbean.
Analyst DBS Vickers said the UK-centric business would not suit Asian-focused SingTel, whose focus is on Asian mobile, Today Online reported.
However, it could mark a new push for the Singapore telco into the enterprise market, offering a platform for the coming boom in cloud services.
After rising to 78.50p, CWW’s LSE stock closed at 72.80p, just above its opening price.
SingTel’s share price fell 2 cents to 3.09 on the SGX today.
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