Eircom is very unlikely to pursue Swisscom for the professional fees it incurred in the abortive takeover approach from the Swiss company, it has emerged.

Some figures who are familiar with Eircom believe that a sum of more than €4 million might be involved, although contracts with professional advisers sometimes contain an abort clause under which they waive their fee if a deal does not go ahead.

It is not known whether Eircom's advisers were working on this basis. The advisers included London-based corporate finance house Morgan Stanley, Goodbody Stockbrokers in Dublin and solicitors A&L Goodbody.

It is understood that the Eircom board has yet to consider the matter in any detail, but all indications in advance of such a discussion suggest that it will not pursue Swisscom.

Despite the likelihood of high fees for professional services, if charged, some informed observers point to the fact that the bulk of corporate finance fees would not be incurred until further in the takeover process.

Eircom's prior takeover of mobile firm Meteor also meant that significant preparatory work required for Swisscom's due diligence was not required.

While Morgan Stanley, Goodbody Stockbrokers and A&L Goodbody would have been well-paid for their work on the Meteor transaction, they are considered unlikely to be willing to work for free in the context of a separate deal.

In addition to the question of any professional fees, the company must also consider the cost to the company of the time spent by its most senior managers in their response to the approach from Swisscom.

Contact between the two groups was definitively broken off at the start of this month after the Swiss government, which controls Swisscom, banned it from acquiring a majority stake in any foreign telco with a public service remit.