eircom to pay €420m for Meteor mobile market re-entry

eircom has announced to the stock exchange its intention to acquire mobile phone operator Meteor for €420m.

The acquisition is intended to be funded by a rights issue at a minimum subscription price of €1.10 per eircom share (the "rights issue"). The rights issue price will be set when the prospectus is published, which is expected to be in late August 2005, and has been fully underwritten by Morgan Stanley and Goodbody Stockbrokers.