BT bids for US telecoms provider

By Simon Aughton

Posted on 8 Nov 2004 at 10:47

BT has made a $965mn bid for California-based telecommunications services provider Infonet. The deal is subject to approval by Infonet's shareholders and regulatory authorities and if given the go-ahead is expected to be completed in the first half of 2005.

BT is steadily growing its Global Services division as revenues from its core UK business, telephony, fall. Infonet has 3,000 customers worldwide and its acquisition would help BT's aim of becoming a major force in the US market.

BT chief executive Ben Verwaayen said, 'This is another milestone in BT's transformation into a leading global provider of IT and networking services. It is our goal to be the first choice for multi-site organisations around the world as they address their increasingly complex communications needs.'

His comments were expanded on by Andy Green, chief executive of BT's Global Services division.

'Infonet brings us specialist skills, a great customer base, increased global reach and additional local presence where we need it,' he said. 'By combining the strengths of both companies, we will substantially improve our ability to help our new and existing customers address the challenges and opportunities of the digital networked economy.'