Telecoms group Eircom, which is in talks with lenders to restructure €3.75 billion of debt, says it has received an approach from a third party to help restructure its finances.
The company, majority-owned by Singapore Technologies Telemedia (STT), did not say who the approach was from. A report in the Sunday Times had suggested that Asian conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa had made contact with a co-ordinating committee of Eircom's senior lenders in a bid to secure control of the operator. Hutchison Whampoa and Eircom both declined to comment on the report.
Eircom said there were two other proposals to restructure its debt - one from its shareholders and one from some of its lenders.
Reuters quoted a source close to the talks as saying that STT had proposed giving the most senior lenders a 20% stake in return for a haircut on their €2.4 billion of debt.
The source said second-tier lenders had also proposed swapping some of their €350m debt for equity in the business.
Talks started after Eircom officially recognised a co-ordinating committee representing senior lenders in July. The lenders in September agreed to waive their debt covenants until December 15, averting a possible default.
In a trading update today, Eircom said its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation for the quarter to September 30 would show a "significant reduction" from a year earlier, but were in line with internal forecasts.
It said it was losing market share in broadband delivered by telephone lines to cable and mobile broadband. The company registered a very significant reduction in EBITDA from a year earlier in its mobile operation due to increased costs linked to the roll out of high-end smartphones. It said revenue losses were partially offset by progress on cost reductions.
