CABLE & WIRELESS is seeking to dispose of its struggling US business as the new chief executive, Francesco Caio, prepares to announce what is expected to be a radical restructuring of the international telecoms carrier on June 4, The Times has learnt.

Mr Caio is also interested in selling the company’s Japanese operation, for up to £100 million, which would leave the business focused on its UK and Caribbean holdings, generating a profit of about £300 million a year.

The Times has learnt that the new chief executive has advised senior employees of his current thinking in the past few days.

Mr Caio is being assisted in the restructuring by Bill Trent, whose appointment as a special adviser to the chief executive has raised eyebrows at the company’s headquarters in Holborn, Central London.

Mr Trent was the finance director who presided over the collapse of Energis, a rival to Cable & Wireless, a little over a year ago. Severely criticised for his role in the affair, he departed from Energis once Archie Norman and John Pluthero took over last summer.

Mr Caio is thought to be close to Mr Trent. Both were formerly partners at McKinsey, the management consultancy.

Cable & Wireless’s American arm has been the root cause of the company’s problems. A clean disposal would be welcomed by the City as a sign that Mr Caio is prepared to take a firm grip on the sprawling business built up by the previous chief executive, Graham Wallace, in pursuit of multinational business customers.

However, selling the US unit would be very difficult to achieve. Despite a recent restructuring, the operation is still loss-making amid ferocious competition from AT&T, McI — the former WorldCom — regional operators and a string of new entrants. Getting any price for the unit would probably be hailed as a success.

If the company cannot find a buyer, the US unit is likely to be shut down. That would generate sizeable restructuring costs, estimated by Citigroup earlier this week to be around £600 million in cash, as the company will have to foreclose on property leases and pay off staff.

A disposal would leave Simon Cunningham, chief executive of the US unit, without a job. He is one of several senior employees associated with Mr Wallace who are expected to leave after Mr Caio’s arrival in April. Others on their way out include chief legal counsel Dan Fitz.

Last week Mr Cunningham issued a note to the company’s US customers assuring them that the existing restructuring was going “ahead of plan”. The note was picked up by Goldman Sachs and led the investment bank to conclude that the US operation would be retained. That prediction now appears to be incorrect.Cable & Wireless Japan is profitable but is by some distance the fourth biggest long-distance operator in the country. It was acquired in 1999 for £350 million, but is now unlikely to fetch more than £100 million. The business is thought by the investment bank to have generated underlying profits of about £17 million.

A Cable & Wireless spokeswoman said: “The review of the business is ongoing, and we will update the market next month once it is complete.”

Mr Caio will advise investors of his plans when the company reports its full-year results on June 4.

Cable & Wireless shares gained ¼p yesterday to close at 92¾.