Melly to submit higher offer for eircom, paper says

Telecoms entrepreneur Sean Melly is seeking to purchase Ireland’s former state-owned monopoly eircom according to ‘informed sources’ as cited by the Irish Times. Melly is reportedly in negotiation with JP Morgan concerning a financial package to restructure eircom’s EUR3.8 billion (USD5.1 billion) debt. The paper reports that Mr Melly’s bid is at a premium to the offer of EUR97 million submitted in mid-April by TaemasBridge, an investment vehicle led by Australian financier and former Babcock Brown executive Rob Topfer. Eircom’s trade unions and its employees’ trust Esot, which owns 35% of the telco, rejected the offer. Separately, Singapore Technologies Telemedia is also believed to have tabled a bid for eircom.