Outlook: Barclay Knapp

Barclay Knapp

THERE'S ONE certain winner from yesterday's carve up of Cable & Wireless Communications, and that's , the youthful looking American who runs NTL. Only a month ago he seemed to be all but frozen out of the talks on consolidation of the UK cable industry. His problem? NTL was already so geared up with debt that it couldn't afford the cash Cable & Wireless wanted for its residential cable business. Armed with $5.5bn of France Telecom's money, he's now whipped in and secured the deal from under Telewest's nose. Whether or not this proves a wise investment for France Telecom, Mr Knapp has shown himself a bit of a star and quite a deal maker with it.