Vodafone finally gets Eircell

Vodafone has completed the acquisition of a 79.6 share in Eircell, the wireless arm of Irish telco Eircom, in an all-stock deal - giving Eircell a virtual market capitalisation of E3.64bn (£2.25bn).

Eircell, one of three incumbent telcos in Ireland, claims that the deal is the largest in Irish corporate history. The acquisition was originally announced in December 2000 and was cleared by the European Commission in March this year. The sale of Eircell will give Vodafone an entry into the Irish 3G market, as Eircell is to participate in the beauty contest allocation of 3G licences by the Irish government later this summer. Competitors for the licences are likely to be BT Group's Esat Digifone, and new entrant Meteor. Telia and KPN, owning 14 per cent and 21 per cent of Eircom respectively, have given an undertaking to support the transaction. The move follows Vodafone's recent acquisition of BT's stake in Japanese mobile operator Japan Telecom. By Mark Mayne