Vodafone C038;WW bid deadline extended

It granted the extension on Friday at the request of Camp;WW,the corporate telecoms services group said.

Vodafone8217;s declared interest in Camp;WW,which has issued a string of profit warnings since it split from Cable amp; Wireless Comms two years ago,prompted India8217;s Tata Communications to say on March 1 that it too was looking at making a bid.

Shares in Camp;WW closed up 5.9 per cent at 36.2 pence,valuing the group at nearly 1 billion pounds 1.6 billion.

Vodafone closed down 0.9 per cent at 169 pence. Tata Communications last traded up 2.5 per cent at 235.60 rupees.

Analyst Nick Brown at Espirito Santo Investment Bank said the extension meant Vodafone was working quite seriously on whether to make a formal bid or not.

Their intentions of having a look at the business were made public perhaps before they would have liked,so it makes sense they might want a bit more time because it8217;s not just the Cable amp; Wireless shareholders they have to convince; they8217;ve got to present a robust case to Vodafone shareholders as well,he said.

There8217;s been a fair degree of scepticism about the deal; as we8217;ve got closer to the deadline it became more apparent that Vodafone was serious about potentially making a bid.

Now they are requesting more time it is probably more likely than not they are going to come out with something formal.

Standard Chartered is the financial adviser to Tata Communications,the company said in the filing,with Rothschild and Barclays Capital advising Camp;W Worldwide.