It is understood the board of Eircom has voted unanimously to accept the latest bid from Denis O'Brien's eIsland group. Documentation is being finalised at present and a formal announcement is expected later tonight. The board has been considering the new bid of €1.36 a share, which is nine cents higher than the rival offer from the Tony O'Reilly Valentia group.
Two weeks ago, Denis O'Brien was told he had to bid over €1.35 to release KPN and Telia from their agreement to sell to Valentia. This is eIsland's ninth indicative offer for the former state phone company and the group has been in the race since last October.
However this latest bid from eIsland puts the board in a difficult position as the employee trust, which owns 15% of the shares, has put its backing behind Valentia. Any bid requires 80% approval from shareholders before it can go through. Eircom shares closed up four cents at €1.31 in Dublin this evening.
