Smart unlikely to return to home phone sector

THE prospective new owner of Smart Telecom has ruled out a return for the company to the home phone business and said that the troubled telecommunications firm will be back on the growth path by the middle of next year.

Brendan Murtagh — the co-founder of building materials firm Kingspan and Smart’s single largest shareholder — will know tomorrow whether or not the company’s shareholders are in favour of him taking over the company.

Mr Murtagh — via his BidCo vehicle — bought Smart for €1 earlier this month. The company’s shareholders are due to meet tomorrow to vote on the move. In the last couple of weeks, opposition has surfaced with one shareholder claiming he had enough support to scupper Mr Murtagh’s plans. Smart shareholder Des Carrick said he had the support of just over 3% of the company’s shareholders — who, between them, own some 12 million shares in the company.