Premium for Esat shares on debut in New York

ESAT Telecom's shares got off to a strong start when they were floated on the Nasdaq exchange in the US yesterday. Within two hours, almost one quarter of the shares placed had changed hands.

By midday, the shares had risen from $13 to just over $14 1/4 each, despite the market beginning the day very shakily.

By the close, 2,225,700 Esat shares had changed hands and the stock was quoted at $15 1/8, 25 cents shy of its intro-day high.

The company claimed at one stage that up to 15 market-makers were chasing the stock.

Esat had predicted that the stock would be priced at $12-$14. The company offered six million depository shares (equal to two million ordinary shares) to raise £55 million.

Esat founder and chairman, Mr Denis O'Brien said last night that the company was very happy with the stock's price. He said it had been priced at $13 "because you have to leave a little bit on the table for investors".

Taking a $14.25 share price, Mr O'Brien's own shareholding in the company is now worth just over £30 million.

Mr O'Brien said the aim had been to bring quality investors on board and this had been achieved. He said some of the biggest investors in the US had bought the stock.

The monies raised will be used to part-fund Esat's roll-out of a fibre optic network. Mr O'Brien said the company was now preparing for the liberalisation of the residential telephony market in the year 2000.

Mr O'Brien claimed that around 1520 per cent of the stock had been bought by Irish institutions. Around 50 per cent had been placed with US institutions with the remainder in Europe - the shares are also being placed on the Easdaq.

He said there had also been a great response from staff, many of whom had bought shares through Davy Stockbrokers. Staff are getting shares at a discount.

Asked about 750,000 shares which were held in the name of Ms Helen Malone, but for which Mr O'Brien was the ultimate beneficiary, Mr O'Brien said there was nothing unusual about it.

It caused some mystery in the media, he said, but it was "a mechanical thing". He said: "They're mine. I don't see what the concern is."

Esat Telecom is a 45 per cent shareholder in Esat Digifone, which was awarded the second digital mobile phone licence. The award of the licence may be investigated by the tribunal of inquiry which will examine certain decisions made by politicians, including Mr Lowry.

The prospectus drew attention to this, but Mr O'Brien denied that it had been of major concern to prospective investors.