Eircom shareholders voted overwhelmingly on Friday in favour of the sale of the company's mobile phone division Eircell to Vodafone.
There were 1.5 billion votes in favour of the first phase of the deal, which is the demerging of Eircell from Eircom. There were 7.3 million votes against.
The result was a foregone conclusion because the institutional shareholders voted in favour of the sale. But the 750 shareholders who gathered in the Point in Dublin voted overwhelmingly against the deal.
Earlier, Eircom chairman Ray McSharry hit back at commentators who he said had misrepresented Eircom as unique in having seen its share price drop considerably.
He told the EGM this was a 'myth', and pointed out that since last September's AGM Eircom's share price was down just over 1%, whilst other telecommunications companies had fallen significantly more.
McSharry said Eircom was in a strong position with a minimal debt burden, and one of the highest market shares of any telecommunications company across Europe.
He told shareholders he was constrained by stock exchange rules on what he could say about approaches to buy Eircom's fixed line business. But he said the board had a responsibility to consider any bid that emerged from the expressions of interest. He assured shareholders that no offer would be recommended unless it was in the best interest of shareholders.
Meanwhile, Eircom is reported to have asked potential bidders for its fixed line business to put forward proposals by the end of this month.
Three groups - Denis O'Brien's eIsland, the Valentia group headed by Tony O'Reilly and Dermot Desmond's IIU - have expressed an interest in the remaining Eircom business after Eircell is sold.
Indications on Friday are that Eircom will either decide to reject all approaches, or choose one group for further talks.
Shares in Eircom closed down four cents to 2.61 euros in Dublin on Friday evening.
