Posted: 12th Aug, 2005 By: MarkJ
Investment banks MERRILL Lynch and Morgan Stanley, which hold a large amount of Energis's debt, have been accused of improperly holding up C&Ws offer by refusing to agree:
Their alleged stance could cause C&W to walk away from the deal when a deadline for acceptance of the firms unofficial offer expires on Monday. Sources close to the alternative telecoms carrier made it clear last night that C&W would not be returning with an improved offer.
The tactics employed by the two Wall Street banks are likely to anger Energiss management and other financial backers, who are believed to be happy with the offer already on the table thought to be about £780 million.
The price offered by C&W is thought to be the result of months of delicate negotiations with Energiss management. Having achieved a price satisfactory to both sides, C&W is considered extremely unlikely to budge on its offer.
More @ The Times Newspaper.