February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
Talks have broken down between Eircom, Ireland’s former state telecommunications company, and businessman Paul Coulson, who had been negotiating with the company and KPN of the Netherlands about acquiring KPN’s 11 percent stake in Eircom.
KPN and Tella of Sweden have been trying to sell their combined 35 percent stake in Eircom since May. Eircom attributes its struggling share price in part to the market knowledge that such a large portion of the company will soon be for sale. The company successfully encouraged Tella to retain its share until January 2001.
Shares of Eircom fell 0.02 euro in Dublin today, to 2.88 euros. In July 1999, one in every seven Irish citizens bought shares in the company at the initial offering price of 3.90 euros.
Eircom is selling its mobile subsidiary, Eircell, to Vodafone, and any other deals will involve the remainder of the company’s fixed-line and internet assets. A deal with Vodafone expected to be announced next week will give Eircom shareholders one Vodafone share for every two Eircom shares.
Negotiations have accelerated, meanwhile, for the sale of the fixed-line and internet businesses with a consortium of investors led by Denis O’Brien, the retired founder of Esat Telecom.
ICCUSA Christmas party
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The Ireland Chamber of Commerce in the United States, Inc. will hold its annual Christmas Party tonight, Wednesday, Dec. 13, from 5:30-8 p.m., at The Plough & The Stars, South Second Street (between Market and Chestnut Streets), Philadelphia. Admission $10 members; $15 non-members. Details, (215) 574-3109 or email info@iccusa.org.
Higgins challenges biz bigs
Dr. Eleanor O’Higgins, professor of Strategic Management and Business Ethics at The Michael Smurfit Graduate School of Business, University College Dublin, has challenged business leaders to face up to the reality of developing answers to the new questions being asked in this new century.
Speaking Dec. 5 at The Metropolitan Club in New York City, O’Higgins asked "Should shareholders continue to be the primary stakeholders in corporations? Or should employees, customers, suppliers, alliance
partners, government, the community, and the physical environment have their own stakes in enterprises?"
The Smurfit School UCD Professor noted that the people demonstrating at the G7, World Bank and World Trade Organization meetings in Prague, Washington and Seattle are asking to be taken seriously. Business must develop an agenda and have answers, she said.
"Capitalism has triumphed," she said. "Why is it under attack along with its partner, globalization? Companies, especially transnational corporations must deal intelligently with continuing and growing anti-big business sentiment. Business enterprises will have to learn how to react to the competing claims of many stakeholders, taking account of their differing levels of power, legitimacy, and urgency.
"Our planet has become one integrated economic and social system, so the questions posed need to be addressed by everyone involved in business."