eircom stock down after Meteor buy-out news

The Irish index of shares fell 38.09 points to 6759.85 this morning.

eircom stock fell by 11c, or 5.88%, to €1.76 after this morning's confirmation that the company is to buy mobile phone operator Meteor for €420m, subject to shareholder and regulatory approval.

Meteor is the fastest growing mobile business in Ireland - the company’s subscriber base doubled from 181,000 to 410,000 in the last 18 months. As the eircom AGM began today in Dublin, managers said their aim was to double Meteor’s market share of 10% within three to four years by continuing to be the low cost operator.

Meanwhile, shares in mining and exploration company Kenmare Resources stayed flat at 43c on the back of news that the company's main asset, the Moma titanium mineral sands project in Mozambique, is 28% complete and ahead of schedule.

In the financials, Anglo Irish Bank rose 4c to €11.34, but was the only one of the banks to see a rise in share price. Bank of Ireland fell 3c to €13.80, while AIB was down 16c to €18.04. Irish Life and Permanent fell 13c to €14.67.