Valentia controls more than 40%

Shareholders controlling 42 per cent of Eircom have accepted the €1.365 per share offer from Valentia Telecommunications, according to the Sir Anthony O'Reilly-led consortium. The accepting shareholders include Comsource, the alliance of KPN and Telia which owns 35 per cent of the company. The figure also includes around half of the 15 per cent stake held by the Eircom Employee Share Ownership Trust, which is a member of the consortium. The ESOT has only been able to pledge half its shares as the remaining portion are mortgaged and cannot be pledged until the securities are unwound in the coming weeks. The Valentia offer does not close until September 21st, by which time Valentia hopes to have acceptances from shareholders controlling 80 per cent of the former Telecom ╔ireann. The consortium is expected to extend its offer if it does not get the required level of acceptances by the September 21st deadline.