Tata abandons provide for Cable & Wireless Worldwide, leaving Vodafone as sole bidder
Tata Communications (NYSE: TCL) will not make a formal offer to purchase Cable & Wireless Worldwide (CWW) (LSE: CW.L), the company said Wednesday, a move that makes Vodafone (LSE: VOD.L) the sole bidder for the UK-based wireline service provider.
Tata, which decided to make a bid for CWW in early March, said that its decision came after it could not agree on the purchase price, reports Reuters.
"Tata today confirms that it has been unable to reach agreement with CWW on an offer price and therefore confirms that it does not intend to make an offer for CWW," the service provider said in a statement.
A CWW spokesperson said the company "was still in ongoing talks with Vodafone."
Vodafone would not comment on where it was in the bidding process.
By acquiring CWW, Vodafone would gain two potential benefits. In addition to offsetting the estimated 200 million ($321.3 million) in wireless backhaul costs it pays to BT (NYSE: BT), Vodafone would be able to offer large businesses like Tesco (LSE: TSCO.L) a suite of wireline-based telephony, data, and hosting services.