Eircom offers increased

The auction for Eircom’s fixed line service has begun to escalate, as both of the early front-runners for the company are believed to have increased their offers.

Yesterday, the Valentia consortium headed by Tony O’Reilly increased its bid to €1.22 per share and indicated that they may be prepared to further increase it.

In response, Denis O’Brien’s eIsland group also revised its bid, the offer stands at €1.24 per share but the group will now also allow shareholders to have a small stake in the future of Eircom after the sale.

O’Reilly’s Valentia consortium are also believed to have the backing of the Employee Share Option Trust.

The Board of Eircom is still reviewing the two proposals and further negotiations are scheduled to take place in the next few days.