The Dublin-based company set the offer price at 1.55 euros ($1.91) apiece, at the lower end of the previously indicated range of between 1.48 euros ($1.83) and 1.75 euros ($2.16). The sale of new and existing shares is expected to raise about 800m euros ($986.6m).
The flotation marks the end of a two-year market absence for Eircom after it was taken private by the Valentia consortium in November 2001, after the investor group paid 3bn euros ($3.72bn).
The Valentia consortium was made up of chairman Sir Anthony O’Reilly, Soros Private Equity, Providence Equity Partners and Goldman Sachs Group Inc, and they have sold most of their stakes in the initial public offer and made about 60% more than they invested.
The Eircom business was established way back in 1984 as a part-state owned company before being floated on the New York, London and Dublin Stock Exchanges in July 1999. It serves about 80% of Ireland’s residential customers, and had sales of 1.23bn euros ($1.51bn) in the nine months to December 2003.
This article is based on material originally published by ComputerWire
