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Eircom offered $1.9B
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October 26, 2000: 1:17 p.m. ET
Esat founder bids for fixed-line unit of former rival; Vodafone in mobile talks
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LONDON (CNNfn) - Irish entrepreneur and telecom industry whiz Denis O'Brien on Thursday unveiled a  2.25 billion ($1.87 billion) offer to buy the fixed-line telecom business of eircom PLC, as the former state-owned Irish phone monopoly confirmed that it was in exclusive talks with Vodafone Group PLC about selling its mobile business.
O'Brien, who recently stepped down as chairman of Esat Telecom, the company he founded and built into eircom's closest competitor, told a news conference in Dublin, Ireland, that the offer was conditional on detailed information relating to the business. He said he was anxious to open discussions with the eircom board with a view to confirming the offer.
He said the offer was not contingent on the outcome of talks between eircom (EIR) and Britain's Vodafone PLC (VOD) over the sale of the Irish firm's mobile phone unit Eircell, which is valued around 5 billion.
"Assuming Eircell is sold, we believe the fixed line business would not be an attractive proposition as a stand-alone public company. However, our offer is totally independent of any proposed deal between the company and Vodafone," he told a news conference in Dublin.
 The fixed-line purchase would put O'Brien in direct competition with Esat, which he sold earlier this year to Britain's former telecom monopoly British Telecommunications PLC (BT-A) for £1.3 billion ($1.9 billion).
Majella Fitzpatrick, a spokeswoman for eircom, confirmed eircom has received an "indicative proposal" from O'Brien about the purchase of the fixed-line division.
Eircom talking with Vodafone
Fitzpatrick also confirmed that eircom, Ireland's biggest telecom firm, is in exclusive negotiations with Vodafone about the sale of Eircell, seen as the Irish company's crown jewels. eircom had said earlier this month it was in talks about the sale of its mobile division, but named Vodafone as the bidder for the first time Thursday.
Eircom will make a further comment about the Vodafone talks when appropriate, Fitzpatrick added.
If both deals are carried out, the former monopoly would be left with its multimedia business and holdings in the United Kingdom. That includes two Ireland-based Internet service providers -- Indigo and eircom net -- as well as Net directory service goldenpages.ie, a Web-site listing service, Dorus, and Rondo Mondo, an online publisher.
A provisional pact with Vodafone could be announced next week, the Financial Times reported Thursday.
Esat has competed with eircom, which was formerly known as Telecom Eireann, for more than six years. Eircom owns more than 1.5 million fixed telephone lines.
Eircom shares rose 1.7 percent to 3.22 in London, while its shares jumped 2.9 percent to 3.24 in Dublin. Vodafone, the world's biggest mobile-phone company, fell 1.3 percent to 274.25 pence in London, while British Telecom (BT-A) shed 1.3 percent to 744 pence.
O'Brien said his consortium had the backing of international banks and financial institutions. 
--from staff and wire reports
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