EIRCOM HAS declined to comment on a media report that it has received a takeover approach from Digicel, the mobile telephone company controlled by Denis O’Brien.

The indebted former State company said on Friday it had received an approach from an unnamed third party. The third party was named in a report in the Sunday Timesyesterday as Digicel.

The approach follows two existing debt restructuring proposals, one of which is from the current owners, Singapore Technologies Telemedia and the Eircom employee share ownership trust.

A spokesman for Eircom also said the company had no comment on a report of interest from Hutchison Whampoa, the Asian company that owns the 3 network in Ireland.

Eircom, which has debts of around €3.75 billion, told its lenders on Friday that its earnings for the quarter to September 30th would show “a significant reduction” compared with the same quarter a year earlier, citing competitive pressures in its fixed-line business.