The former ESAT Chairman, Denis O'Brien, has said that the directors of Eircom have been slow to release information to the consortium which has announced a take-over bid for the company. Mr O'Brien is leading the E-Island consortium which is seeking to buy out the whole of Eircom apart from its mobile division, Eircell. Speaking on RTÉ radio, the former ESAT Chairman said that his consortium had put a "strong offer on the table".
He said that, in light of recent devaluing of the telecommunications sector across Europe, acceptance of the offer would make "an awful lot of sense" for the Board of Eircom and for shareholders. He placed the actual value of a share at about €0.75, and therefore said it would be in the interests of shareholders that the bid of €1.10 per share is accepted.
He added that he was awaiting certain financial information from the company in order to make a bid of this scale. He said that the consortium's current situation was a bit like trying to buy a house without a surveyor. "There is a certain amount of frustration on our side," said Mr O'Brien. Despite making a failed bid for the company late last year, Mr O'Brien says he is determined to succeed with his offer of €1.10 per Eircom share. This would value Eircom at just under £2bn.
John Coolican of Merrion Capital said that Mr O'Brien was obviously taking a long-term view of the value of the fixed line business, which has slipped down the list of priorities for most companies since the advent of third generation mobile phones.
