C and W execs assume core posts of post-takeover IDC.

TOKYO, June 22 Kyodo

Five officials of Britain's Cable and Wireless PLC (C and W) assumed Tuesday the top management posts at International Digital Communications Inc. (IDC) following its successful takeover of the Tokyo-based international carrier, IDC said.

Simon Cunningham, the 39-year-old chief executive responsible for the British firm's northeast Asian operations, assumed the presidency of IDC with the approval of the IDC board, the company said.

Cunningham, also chairman of Cable and Wireless Japan Ltd., will direct the activities of the newly revamped IDC on a daily basis, it said.

Cunningham replaced Taketo Furuhata, 69, who stepped down Tuesday.

Other pre-takeover executives who have left include Gentaro Tsuji, 78, who stood down as chairman, and Toshio Horiuchi, 65, who quit as vice president.

Twelve of the current 16 board directors, all of whom are Japanese nationals, also gave up their posts, it said.

The new IDC board consists of five Britons and four Japanese, it said.

The new IDC chairman is Stephen Pettit, 48, C and W's executive director responsible for corporate development.

At the day's meeting, the IDC shareholders approved a proposal to slash the IDC board to nine members from the previous 21. The 21 included those working on a non-daily basis.

The new streamlined board structure will allow IDC to make quick strategic decisions, industry analysts said.

On June 16, C and W announced it had clinched a 97.69% equity stake in IDC after a three-month takeover battle with Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. (NTT).

C and W persuaded 134 of IDC's 141 shareholders to sell their shares at 110,577 yen per share.

The deal has made C and W the first foreign telecom firm to put a Japanese telecom carrier under its control.

Toyota Motor Corp., Itochu Corp. and C and W jointly founded IDC in 1986, with each putting up 17.69% of the 31.2 billion yen capital.

With its IDC acquisition, C and W hopes to woo multinational corporate clients by offering them services covering ordinary phone communications and large-capacity data transmission.

Pettit earlier expressed C and W's willingness to conduct a sizable capital outlay to augment IDC's capability to offer data transmission services.