BCM dismisses unsolicited eircom offer

Babcock & Brown Capital (BCM), the Australian firm which controls a majority shareholding in Irish incumbent eircom, has reportedly rejected an unsolicited takeover offer for the telco from its former management. The Irish Times writes that BCM dismissed the takeover approach as ‘unacceptable in its current form’. Moreover, in an attempt to at least partially block the unsolicited approach from former BCM director Rob Topfer and former eircom CEO Rex Comb, the Australian fund yesterday committed to returning most of its remaining cash to shareholders if no buyer emerges by June. It is argued that such a move by BCM would virtually eliminate the reserves Mr Topfer intended to return to shareholders under his offer, and would force him to cut his bid price as a result – making the overall proposal less attractive as a result.