The Australian owners of Eircom have reached a deal with Singapore Technologies Telemedia (STT) for the takeover of the company.
The board of Eircom Holdings, formerly known as Babcock and Brown Capital, is recommending to shareholders that they accept the offer, which will be voted on at a meeting in Sydney in December.
The deal values Eircom at €3.94 billion, but its buyers will be taking on its €3.87 billion in debt.
A statement said the offer was equivalent to A$1.335 ($1.15) per Eircom share, representing a 20.2% premium to the closing price on 24 June 2009, the last closing price before the announcement of STT's initial proposal.
The company's ESOT - the employee share ownership trust - which owns 35% of the company has agreed to co-operate with the deal.
The chief executive of Eircom, Paul Donovan, described the announcement as a positive development which brings important clarity to the ownership speculation that has been hanging over the group for much of 2009.
If the deal goes through with Singapore Technologies Telemedia, this would be Eircom's fifth change of ownership since it was privatised in 1999.
