Eircom has confirmed that Australian investors Babcock & Brown have made a €2.4bn bid for the Irish incumbent telco.

In a statement the telco "confirms that it has received a joint proposal from Babcock & Brown Capital Limited (B&B) and eircom ESOP Trustee Limited which may or may not lead to an offer being made for eircom".

Babcock owns 28.8 per cent of Eircom, while employees - through eircom ESOP Trustee Limited - own 21.6 per cent in the firm. Together, the pair own just a smidgen over half of Eircom's shares.

Back in February B&B made a preliminary approach for the telco after splashing out megabucks on increasing its shareholding in Eircom.

Five months ago Eircom was being eyed up by European telco Swisscom. But that approach was blocked by the Swiss Government, which owns a majority stake in Swisscom, after it decided that the telco should not press ahead with plans to expand overseas. ®

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