Dermot Desmond has sought detailed financial information about Eircom and has emerged as a possible bidder for the non-mobile business of the telecoms group, according to a report in today's Business and Finance Magazine.
The report says that Desmond's private investment company, International Investments and Underwriting requested the information from Eircom finance director Peter Lynch last Friday as a precursor to a possible bid for the former state-owned company.
The Business and Finance report says that IIU is the lead partner in a consortium which is interested in Eircom's fixed line and ancillary businesses and which includes a number of international players.
If IIU proceeds to make a bid for Eircom, it will place Dermot Desmond in direct competition for the business with Denis O' Brien, whose eIsland consortium has formally bid 1.10 euro per share or 2.42 billion euro in total for all operations excluding Eircell.
Eircell is the subject of a separate offer from British mobile phone giant Vodafone, a deal which shareholders will vote on next month.
