Copying and distributing are prohibited without permission of the publisher
Digicel ‘no longer interested’ in Eircom
17 November 2011
Eircom directors to look at debt restructuring as Digicel chief Denis O’Brien says he will not bid for Irish operator
Read more:
Eircom
Digicel
Ireland
ST Telemedia
Singapore
Denis O’Brien, the owner of Caribbean operator Digicel, has said his firm will not approach troubled Irish operator Eircom, which is controlled by Singapore Technologies Telemedia.
Eircom, which was in talks to restructure its € 3.75 billion debt, had recently stated that it received an offer from a third party, widely believed to be Digicel.
According to Reuters, O’Brien now says that Digicel will not proceed with its plans. It was reported that STT had recently proposed offering first-lien lenders up to 20% in the group in exchange for a cut on their debt of €2.4 billion.
Sources have told Reuters that the Irish firm’s independent directors have set November 18 as the last date for proposals to restructure the debt. Meanwhile, second-lien lenders have proposed exchanging part of their €350 million debt for equity. GTB
Further reading:
Digicel rumoured to want Ireland's Eircom 31 Oct 2011
Eircom offers 20% stake to lenders 10 Oct 2011
Eircom plans to invest €100 million in fibre 01 Aug 2011
Eircom shareholders back €140m STT bid 17 Dec 2009
Singapore takes over Ireland's Eircom 15 Sep 2009