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Eircom eyes cellular sale
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October 9, 2000: 5:56 a.m. ET
Shares of Irish telecom co jump after confirming talks toward sale of Eircell
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LONDON (CNNfn) - Eircom PLC is mulling whether to sell its mobile-phone subsidiary, the Irish telecom services market leader said Monday, driving its recently lagging shares up as 14 percent.
The announcement follows a weekend report in the London's Sunday Times newspaper that said Vodafone Group PLC, the U.K.-based world No. 1 mobile phone operator, is looking to buy eircom's Eircell mobile-phone unit, which has about 1 million customers.
A spokeswoman for eircom declined to comment on the report.
In a statement Monday, eircom confirmed "it is in preliminary discussions which may or may not lead to the disposal of part or all of Eircell, its mobile subsidiary."
The cellular division is believed to be worth about £2.4 billion ($3.5 billion), which would make it worth more than 70 percent of eircom's total value, the Sunday Times said.
Shares of eircom, formerly known as Telecom Eireann, jumped  0.31, or 12.6 percent, to 2.77 in Dublin Monday. Vodafone (VOD) fell 2.3 percent to 247.25 pence.
One of Vodafone's top domestic rivals, British Telecommunications PLC, recently forged a $2.5 billion bid for Eircom's main competitor Esat Digifone. Vodafone, continuing its buyout binge, last week agreed to plow $2.5 billion into China Mobile, the leader in the mobile-phone market in mainland China. 
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