ESOT COULD UP EIRCOM STAKE - The Irish Times quotes 'informed sources' as saying that the Eircom employee share ownership trust (Esot) is exploring the possibility of increasing its 21.5% stake after a €2.36 billion takeover led by the Australian investment fund Babcock & Brown.
According to the paper, the sources believe the Esot would like to bring its stake in the company close to the 30% level it held after Sir Anthony O'Reilly's Valentia consortium took the company private in 2002. Under the valuation mooted by the Australians, the purchase of an additional 8.5% stake in the company would cost around €200.6m.
The Irish Times says it is unclear how the Esot would fund such a purchase, an issue that will be central to the deliberations of the trust and its 12,000 members.
It is considered unlikely that Babcock & Brown would be opposed in principle to the notion of the Esot's taking a greater stake in the takeover vehicle.
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STATOIL IRISH SALE DATE EXTENDED - The Irish Independent says the closing date for final tenders for the sale of Statoil's Irish petrol stations has been extended from this week until May 22.
The paper adds that Tedcastle Holdings is believed to have dropped out of the running for the stations and stores.
Statoil has 236 stations in Ireland, of which 69 are company owned.
In April, Cork-based grocery wholesaler Musgrave pulled out of the race for Statoil's network of stations, which are valued at €200m. The Indo says a few groups - including Tesco, Topaz Energy and DCC - are believed to be still in the bidding, which is being handled by Merrill Lynch.
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PRICE PRESSURES HIT DELL PROFITS - The Financial Times reports that Dell last night issued a surprise profits warning, adding to concerns that the world's biggest computer maker has begun to lose its edge as it confronts a decline in average selling prices and fierce competition from overseas competitors.
The FT says the warning shocked investors, sending shares in the company down almost 6% in after-hours trading. It is likely to add to concerns that rivals may be catching up to Dell, long considered a must-own among technology stocks because of its consistent out-performance.
Dell said the coming shortfall was driven by 'pricing decisions in the second half of the quarter', marking the third time in four quarters that pricing issues have led the company to disappoint Wall Street.
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'CAROUSEL' FRAUD COSTS UK £5 BILLION - The Guardian says organised criminals are stealing up to £5 billion a year from the British government's coffers through an increasingly sophisticated series of frauds.
The paper says the scale of the losses has staggered customs investigators and Treasury officials and set alarm bells ringing across Whitehall.
More than 500 customs officers are trying to stem the losses, but investigators say they are hampered by the complexity of some of the frauds, and by the criminals' use of top lawyers to frustrate prosecutors.
The Guardian says the money is being lost to a swindle described officially as missing trader intra-community fraud, but known to criminals as carousel fraud. It involves bogus companies being set up to trade goods between each other, and Revenue & Customs being tricked into handing over VAT refunds for each fake sale.
