C&W Worldwide shares in new rise as Tata marks interest

Shares in telecoms company Cable & Wireless Worldwide (CWW) have jumped 18% after India's Tata conglomerate said it was evaluating whether to make an offer for the company.

Tata's expression of interest follows one from Vodafone in mid-February, which sent the shares 29% higher.

Vodafone has until 12 March to declare whether it intends to make an offer, while Tata has until 29 March.

At current prices, CWW has a market value of £900m.

If Tata Communications did make a successful bid, it would mark the second-biggest British acquisition by an Indian firm since its sister company, Tata Motors, bought Jaguar Land Rover.

Tata has one of the world's largest undersea cable networks.

CWW specialises in networking and broadband for corporate clients, including Tesco and the UK police service.

Its share price has fallen sharply in value ever since it split from Cable & Wireless's Caribbean-based telecoms arm in 2010.

Even its chief executive has said recently that the company needed a new direction.

Gavin Darby said last month that the firm was over-complex and lacked investment.