Eircom misses payment to lenders

16 Feb 2012

Incumbent telecoms operator Eircom said today it has not made the bond payment to lenders that was scheduled for 12 February.

Eircom, which is lumbering under a massive €3.65bn debt, is expecting to receive offers by potential buyers in mid-March.

“Further to the announcement on 9 February 2012, ERC Ireland Finance confirmed today it has not made the FRN coupon payment scheduled for 15 February 2012.”

Floating rate note (FRN) coupons are bonds that pay out interest every few months.

Eircom said the non-payment does not impact on the continued operation of the Eircom business.

“All Eircom and Meteor services and payments to suppliers continue as normal.

“The Eircom Group continues to work closely with its senior lenders on the balance sheet remediation process to provide a sustainable capital structure for the group,” Eircom said.

Last month, Eircom appointed Morgan Stanley to oversee the sale of the company.

In December, a €200m proposal to restructure Eircom by shareholder ST Telemedia (STT) was rejected by the Irish incumbent operator’s first lien lenders and as a result STT members of Eircom’s board resigned with immediate effect.

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com