Cable and Wireless to sell Japanese unit to Softbank

LONDON (AFP) - Cable and Wireless, the British telecoms group, said it had agreed to sell its Japanese unit to Internet service provider Softbank Corp for about 133 million dollars (104 million euros) including debt.
Cable and Wireless will retain network capability in Japan with two international data nodes in order to provide its international customers with services to and from Japan.
The group's operations in other Asian markets, including Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Macau and India, will be unaffected by the sale.
Cable and Wireless chief executive said the Japanese unit, Cable and Wireless IDC Inc, was "a sound business operating in a highly competitive market."
He added: "However, given our strategy to focus on businesses with strong positions in their primary markets we have concluded that IDC is not a good strategic fit with our business going forward, although it has value to the right owner."
The sale leaves Britain's Vodafone as the sole major foreign carrier operating in Japan.
The Cable and Wireless unit was formed when the British company acquired IDC, a Japanese international telephone operator, in June 1999, but it has struggled against rivals NTT and KDDI Corp.

10/26/2004 - 08:32 GMT - AFP