A report in the Irish Times newspaper says that Irish former fixed line monopoly Eircom has appointed investment bank Goldman Sachs to advise it on offers for the telecoms group by its listed Sydney-based parent company. The telco is being put up for sale by Aussie-listed fund Eircom Holdings, which owns 57% of the Irish telecoms business and was formerly known as Babcock Brown Capital.
At the end of last month, Eircom Holdings started discussion with three possible bidders concerning its stake in Eircom. Singapore Technologies Telemedia (STT) is believed to have held meetings with the Irish government and employee share ownership trust (ESOT), which owns 35% of the company, and three private equity companies are also understood to be interested. These include financier and former Babcock Brown executive Rob Topfer, who has tabled an offer of EUR100 million (USD140.5 million). Mr Topfer’s bid, made through an investment vehicle called TaemasBridge, was rejected by Eircom, ESOT and trade unions. The other two private equity groups thought to be stalking Eircom are Arcapita and CVC, while Irish entrepreneur Sean Melly is lining up a potential bid, with financing from JP Morgan.