- The Guardian, Tuesday July 1 2008
Cable & Wireless sweetened its offer for Thus yesterday and snapped up a 29.9% stake in the smaller telecoms firm to strengthen its hand.
C&W failed to secure a full recommendation from the Thus board for its £329m offer but was granted access to conduct due diligence.
After a weekend of intense discussions between the two sides, C&W made an offer valuing Thus at 180p a share, up from the 165p it had previously offered. It then spent nearly £100m in the first hour of trading yesterday buying a 29.9% stake in Thus at the offer price of 180p.
Shares in Thus closed up 22% or 31.75p to 177p reflecting market expectations that the bid will succeed.
Thus neither endorsed nor rejected C&W's offer but said it was "worthy of consideration by shareholders in the absence of a better proposal". The company said in a statement: "However, it is the board's view that the offer is not such a compelling proposal that the board could give a recommendation to Thus shareholders to accept the offer at this time." Thus had initiated talks with C&W last week after failing to find an alternative suitor.
