Future uncertain for O'Brien Eircom bid

Denis O'Brien has said it is now up to the board of Eircom if it wants to reopen negotiations for the fixed line part of the company.

Mr O'Brien says every proposal he has made for the phone company to date has been the highest.

This afternoon he confirmed that the time scale for his latest eIsland bid for the phone firm expired at midnight and since then he has had no contact with the Eircom board.

Mr O'Brien was offering €1.24 per share and under a warrant he was allowing shareholders a say in the future of the company.

eIsland's main competition was the Tony O'Reilly-led Valentia consortium who at the weekend got the support of the employee share trust.

Denis O'Brien denies that this was an obstacle. As for the future, he insists the ball is now in Eircom’s court.