Babcock & Brown is a Sydney-based investment bank that spent some €250 million to buy a 12.5 per cent stake in Eircom last October.

The bulk of the stake was purchased by Babcock & Brown Capital, a new investment fund established by the company last February. Eircom was its first investment. In recent days, it has added to its shareholding, lifting it to 14 per cent of the group.

Babcock & Brown has other interests in Ireland. It has an office in Dublin dealing with aviation leasing while it has a 10 per cent stake in East Surrey Holdings, which owns the gas infrastructure network in Northern Ireland.

It also competed to build a new electricity power station two years ago when it backed a bid by the Irish Power Energy consortium, eventually losing to Tynagh Energy.

Founded in 1977, Babcock & Brown is listed on the Australian Stock Exchange. It operates from 18 offices in Australia, US, Europe, Asia and Africa. It has more than 600 employees worldwide.

The group operates in five areas: real estate, infrastructure and project finance, operating leasing, structured finance and investment, and fund management.