NEW YORK-Dublin, Ireland-based Esat Telecom Group plc, a minority owner of Ireland’s second cellular carrier, went public Nov. 7 with an initial offering of 6 million American Depository Shares, priced at $13 each.
Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Securities Corp., New York, is lead underwriter of the Canadian and United States half of the cross-border issue. The other half was sold internationally. The securities trade on Nasdaq and on the European Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation System, or Easdaq.
Each ADS represents two shares of Esat common stock with voting rights. The anticipated price range was between $12 and $14 per ADS, according to a preliminary prospectus for the initial public offering.
Esat Telecom Group was formed in 1991 to combine holdings in two telecommunications businesses: Esat Telecommunications Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary that provides long-distance wireline telephone service to businesses; and Esat Digifone Ltd., a 45-percent owned affiliate that operates a cellular system under a Global System for Mobile communications license.
Esat Digifone launched commercial service March 21 with coverage of about 80 percent of the population of the Republic of Ireland. It had a combined total of 300 base stations and cell sites in operation as of Sept. 17. In its first three months of operation, the carrier acquired 45,000 subscribers for a penetration rate of about 1.3 percent and a market share of approximately 23 percent.
Most of the proceeds of the equity offering will be used to construct local, national and international infrastructure, Esat Telecom Group said.
