Eircom accepts $3.1b bid from Babcock

Dublin: Australia's Babcock & Brown has agreed to buy Ireland's top telecoms company in a deal valuing Eircom at 2.42 billion euros ($3.1 billion) its latest European target, this time in one of the region's fastest growing economies.

BCM Ireland Holdings (BCM), a group comprising investment group Babcock & Brown Capital Ltd and the Eircom Employee Share Ownership Trust (ESOT), will offer 2.20 euros in cash for each Eircom share, plus a second interim dividend of 0.052 euros.

The offer is at a 35 per cent premium to Eircom's closing price before another proposed bid, which later fell through, by Swiss group Swisscom late last year and a 4.3 per cent premium to the price before Babcock & Brown made its preliminary approach early this year.

"After careful consideration the independent directors of Eircom intend unanimously to recommend to shareholders to vote in favour of the resolutions," Eircom Chairman and Irish entrepreneur Anthony O'Reilly said in a statement yesterday.

Raising debt

Shares in Eircom jumped as much as 2.8 per cent after the announcement widely expected after Eircom brought forward the date of its annual results last week to 2.21 euros.

By 0940 GMT, they were 2.3 per cent higher at 2.2 euros.

The deal gives Eircom an enterprise value (EV) of around 4.8 billion euros.

BCM's Chairman Robert Topfer told Reuters the group planned to fund the deal with 3.8 billion euros of debt underwritten by Barclays Capital, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Dresdner Kleinwort Wass-erstein and JPMorgan.