Cable & Wireless Worldwide

Cable & Wireless Worldwide PLC (informally Cable & Wireless) was a British multinational telecommunications services company headquartered in Bracknell, United Kingdom. It was formed in 2010 by the split of Cable & Wireless plc into two companies, the other being Cable & Wireless Communications serving Central America and the Caribbean (and now a part of Liberty Latin America).

Cable & Wireless Worldwide specialised in servicing large corporates, governments, carriers and resellers and its services included managed voice, data and IP-based services. It had operations in Asia Pacific, Europe, India, the Middle East & Africa and North America.[2] The company was bought by Vodafone in July 2012 and integrated into the business on 1 April 2013.[3]

History

The company was formed on 26 March 2010, made up of the remaining business of Cable & Wireless plc following the demerger of the company's international division to form Cable & Wireless Communications. The split meant that the FTSE 100 Index temporarily held 101 firms, before Cable & Wireless Communications dropped to the FTSE 250 Index.[4]

Following the split, CWW went through a tumultuous period – its shares, which hit a high of 98.5 pence after the split, valuing the group at $4.25 billion; fell to 13 pence in November 2011, increasing speculation it would be a takeover target.

On 28 June 2011, the board of Cable & Wireless Worldwide accepted the resignation of Jim Marsh and announced that John Pluthero, the then-Chairman, would become Chief Executive.[5] On 14 November 2011, Cable & Wireless Worldwide announced that it had appointed the former Vodafone Group executive Gavin Darby as its new chief executive.[6]

On 23 April 2012, Vodafone announced an agreement to acquire Cable & Wireless Worldwide for £1.04 billion.

Vodafone, who was looking to strengthen its integrated corporate services business arm – Vodafone Global Enterprise, bid for CWW with Tata Communications Ltd. also in the fray. Vodafone became the sole bidder after Tata group withdrew; and on 23 April 2012, Vodafone announced an agreement to acquire the operations of CWW for £1.04 billion in cash.[7][8][9] On 18 June 2012, CWW shareholders voted in favour of the Vodafone offer, exceeding the 75% of shares necessary for the deal to go ahead.[10] Vodafone was advised by UBS AG, while Barclays and Rothschild advised Cable & Wireless.

The acquisition gave Vodafone access to CWW's fibre network for businesses,[9] enabling it to take unified communications solutions[11][12] to large enterprises in UK and globally; and expand its enterprise integration service offerings in emerging markets.[12][13]

The purchase was completed on 30 July 2012, and one-time CWW employee and CEO of Vodafone Global Enterprise Nick Jefferey was appointed as CEO of CWW. Cable & Wireless was fully integrated into Vodafone on 1 April 2013.[14]

Executive remuneration

Shareholder groups repeatedly warned about excessive executive remuneration at the company. Before it split into two separately listed companies in early 2010, Cable & Wireless suffered one of the biggest shareholder rebellions in 2009 when 38% of the shareholder register failed to back the company's pay policy at a fiery meeting. The company's highly controversial long-term incentive plan (LTIP) was calculated on 10% of the company valuation and was claimed to pay out to senior managers; in fact the members of the LTIP were the only executive directors who for the year 2009/2010 shared a £60 million bonus pool.[15]

See also

• All Red Line
• Imperial Wireless Chain

External links