Eircom denies takeover claims

EIRCOM yesterday rubbished a claim that it is in talks with Swiss telecoms company Swisscom that would see the former State-owned monopoly taken over for €3 billion.

Shares in eircom surged 13% yesterday morning after the Irish Independent, which is owned by eircom chairman Tony O'Reilly, said Swisscom had made an informal takeover approach and that talks were ongoing.

But the gains were immediately trimmed back to 6% after the company told the stock exchange the paper was incorrect. The share closed 10% higher.