O'Brien group exits race to buy Meteor

Businessman Denis O'Brien has dropped out of the race to buy the State's third mobile phone company, Meteor.

Businessman Denis O'Brien has dropped out of the race to buy the State's third mobile phone company, Meteor.

Mr O'Brien's consortium are unwilling to support a bid that values Meteor at over €400 million, according to a source.

The exit of Mr O'Brien leaves just Eircom and Smart Telecom in the bidding process.

The sealed bids are expected to be worth over €400 million and will be evaluated by Deutsche Bank, the company running the auction process for Meteor's US parent, Western Wireless.

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