STT emerges as frontrunner in Eircom bid

STT’s acquisition outside Asia after several years

Singapore Technologies Telemedia (STT) has revealed that it will make a formal bid to acquire Irish telecommunications company Eircom group, reported Irish Times.

The race to acquire Eircom has taken a decisive turn following the decision of Eircom's employee share ownership trust (ESOT) - to back STT’s bid on 'an exclusive basis for a period of time'. Eircom employee shareholders own a 35% stake in the company.

Irish media has reported that STT will bid in excess of €100m for Eircom and plans to lodge its bid this week.

The news agency stated that a number of companies were planning to acquire Eircom but dropped out of the race after the ESOT gave its support to STT.

British private equity group Permira and Bahrain-based Arcapita are reportedly interested in Eircom among others. The newspaper added that Eircom Holdings has indicated that it would like to finalise a deal by the end of this month.

STT is a mobile telephony and global IP services provider. In March 2007, Qatar Telecom (Qtel) became a partner in STT’s mobile telecoms investment company Asia Mobile Holdings, with Qtel taking a 25% equity stake.

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