Thus, the company formerly known as Scottish Telecom and owner of the Demon Internet brand so beloved by an aging demographic, has recommended its shareholders accept an 180 pence offer from Cable & Wireless that will result in the delisting of the business.

Cable & Wireless originally offered 165 pence a share for the company, but when that was rejected it upped its offer to 180 pence at the end of June. At that time the board was prepared to consider the bid but not recommend it, advising investors:

That position remained until Cable & Wireless revealed it already owned, or had agreement to buy, 78.5 per cent of the business, promoting a rethink by the Thus board:

"While the board remains confident in the standalone prospects of Thus, the board recognises there are risks of remaining as a minority shareholder in Thus in light of C&W's stated intention to de-list Thus shares upon the offer being declared unconditional."

Shareholders are being recommended to accept the offer, which is open until September 9. ®

Related stories

• Recession forces C&W bosses to keep it together (10 November 2008)
• Telco compares merger to Challenger space shuttle (1 October 2008)
• Updated World's biggest ISPs drag feet on critical DNS patch (25 July 2008)
• 3 launches tenner-a-month data (20 August 2007)
• Analysis PlusNet just wants to be loved - again (13 April 2007)
• Thus turns a profit (20 November 2006)
• Demon Internet on the market again (26 October 2006)
• Broadband numbers grow at Demon (19 June 2006)
• Demon does VoIP (5 May 2006)
• Thus integration going to plan (30 March 2006)