C&W/Energis merger to be finalised shortly

Cable & Wireless' acquisition of Energis looks set to be completed within the next couple of days, the UK telco announced today.

Two weeks ago the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) gave the OK for the £600m deal to proceed without any further scrutiny.

In an announcement today C&W said that it "anticipates completion within the next few days" securing its place as the UK's second largest fixed line telco behind BT.

"We will launch our integration of the two businesses on 14 November and we will update the market on the progress of the integration and our plans for the combined business in February 2006," said C&W.

Energis also revealed that it's been successful at weaning itself off dial-up revenue from narrowband ISPs. Instead, it's been winning business from large customers including the BBC, Siemens and the UK Government.

As a result revenue for the first six months of the year was up from £348m to £361m.

Separately, C&W reported that interim group revenues for the six months to September were £1.48bn - up 1 per cent compared to last year although pre-tax profits fell from £178m to £126m over the same period. ®