Eircom owners agree takeover terms
The Australian owners of eircom have agreed a deal with a Singaporean company for a takeover of eircom.
Shareholders are to be encouraged to support the bid led by STT Communications, a subsidiary of Singapore Technologies Telemedia.
Eircom's Employee Share Ownership Trust (ESOT), which owns 35% of the company, has agreed to cooperate with the takeover.
Eircom CEO Paul Donovan said: "This morning’s announcement is a very positive development and brings important clarity to the ownership speculation that has been hanging over the group for much of 2009.
"It is my hope that the transaction will be concluded swiftly and we in eircom will continue to drive operational programmes that will transform the company at a time when the challenges in Ireland’s communications sector have never been greater, and the imperative in overcoming them more acute."
The Eircom board has been preparing to sell its holding in the company for several months, with speculation on a takeover most of this year.
If the deal goes through it will be Eircom’s fifth new owner since privatisation in 1999.
Eircom’s latest accounts showed the company suffered an operating loss of €486m in the year to June.
The company has also been seeking 1,200 job cuts by June 2011 although it has so far resisted compulsory lay-offs.
