Private Equity Leveraged Buyouts in European Telecoms: The Case of Eircom

Donal Palcic and Eoin Reeves

No WP012012, Working Papers from University of Limerick, Department of Economics

Abstract: Highly leveraged buyouts (LBOs) of former state owned telecoms operators by private equity groups have occurred in a number of countries in recent years. This paper examines the case of Eircom in Ireland which has experienced five changes in ownership since full privatisation in 1999, two of which were LBOs. Enormous increases in EircomÂ’s debt levels as a result of the LBOs resulted in the companyÂ’s bankruptcy in 2012. This paper argues that this outcome was largely attributable to the short-termist strategies adopted by the private equity groups that assumed ownership of the enterprise. These strategies included high leverage, cash extraction and underinvestment in the fixed-line network which contributed to the demise of the enterprise and had wider economic and social effects. The Eircom case demonstrates the risks attendant to ownership of important network infrastructure by private equity groups and the need for regulatory safeguards to protect the public interest.

Keywords: private equity; leveraged buyouts; privatisation; broadband investment; Eircom; Ireland (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 24 pages
Date: 2012-01, Revised 2012-06
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Published in Telecommunications Policy, 2013, Vol. 37, pp. 573-582

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https://ul-econ.github.io/RePEc/pdf/ul-econ-wp-2012-01.pdf Revised version, June 2012 (application/pdf)

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Journal Article: Private equity leveraged buyouts in European telecoms: The case of Eircom (2013)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:lim:wpaper:012012

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