Most Eircom shareholders will have received their formal offer document and acceptance forms from Valentia Telecommunications. The recommended offer involves a payment of €1.365 for each Eircom share, made up of the cash offer of €1.335 per share plus a dividend per share of €0.03. Shareholders have until 3 p.m. on September 21st to reply.

If Valentia manages to get 80 per cent acceptances by that date, the offer will be declared unconditional. Shareholders who have sent in acceptance forms will then get their cheques within two weeks.

But cash due to shareholders who have either ignored the acceptance form or decided against acceptance will not be sent out - it will be held in an escrow account until either valid acceptance forms are received or until the shares are compulsorily received later in the process. So, shareholders who are against the Valentia deal will have to wait for their cash.