Rumours push Eircom shares up 6%

EIRCOM shares surged by as much as 6% yesterday on speculation that it may be the subject of a takeover bid.

Eircom ended takeover talks with Swisscom, Switzerland's main telecoms outfit, last December but continued rumours of a new bidder have driven the company's share price back up.

According to weekend reports, Australian investment fund Babcock & Brown are interested in buying Eircom. Babcock spent €250 million last year buying a 12.5% stake in Eircom its largest ever investment outside of Australia.