The Eircom ESOP is believed to have sold shares worth some €14 million in the company yesterday in a move seen as a prelude to a cash distribution to current and former Eircom staff.
Market sources said that more than nine million Eircom shares traded in London yesterday and the ESOP, or Employee Share Ownership Programme, is thought to have been the seller of between seven and eight million of them.
The stock is believed to have been sold at a price of around €1.97, raising some €14 million for the ESOP.
There has been speculation in recent weeks that the ESOP, which has paid out more than €300 million to its 12,000-plus members since 1999, is poised to make its fifth tax-free cash distribution.
The ESOP could not be reached for comment last night. But it has been laying the groundwork for a share sale in recent days.
On March 30th, the ESOP converted more than seven million preference shares into ordinary shares, putting it in a position to sell the stock.
Eircom shares lost eight cent, or nearly 4 per cent, of their value yesterday, closing at €1.97 as they underperformed the market.
The most recent cash payment to ESOP members was made just before Christmas when the average payout was €4,000.
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/VR3765MFOBH2NMV2QNICYDF67M.png)