The news that Eircom has entered exclusive talks with Valentia grabbed all the headlines in what was an otherwise dull day on the Dublin market. The ISEQ closed 70 points lower with most of the leading shares looking weaker.
Eircom closed 2 cents lower at euro 1.28 after the company confirmed this morning it has chosen Valentia as its likely buyer. The two parties will iron out further details of the deal with a result expected around June 25th.
The broader market ticked lower today with AIB down 33 cents to euro 12.52, Bank of Ireland fell 25 cents to euro 11.05 and Anglo Irish was down 5 cents at euro 4.55.
CRH shed 10 cents to euro 20.90 after it emerged that it was in abattle with France’s Cenents Francais for a 25 per cent stake in Egypt’s Suez Cement.
Londonshares ended a nervous session near their day's lows, with sharp losses on Wall Street in the first hour of trading weighing heavily on sentiment, dealers said.
At the close, the FTSE 100 was 90.1 points lower at 5,860.5, just above its 5,858.3 late afternoon low.