Valentia Telecommunications, which acquired Eircom in November 2001, has recouped almost €40 million in costs from the former State phone company.

Accounts for Valentia, which is chaired by Sir Anthony O'Reilly, show that the various members of the consortia all recouped their acquisition costs from Eircom within months of the takeover.

The Eircom Employee Share Ownership Plan (ESOP), which controls 20 per cent of Valentia, "reclaimed" €7 million in professional fees, while Sir Anthony's Lionheart Ventures reclaimed €0.2 million.

Providence Equity Partners, the US leveraged buyout firm that owns just under 50 per cent of Valentia, recouped €21.6 million, while Soros Fund Management - which owns around 20 per cent - reclaimed some €10 million.

The accounts, released yesterday, also detail the fees earned by A&L Goodbody, the Dublin law firm that advised Valentia.

The firm earned €8.5 million from the deal, of which some €1.3 million was paid in the form of non-voting adviser preference shares.

Details of the remuneration earned by the 15 directors of Valentia were also disclosed.

Between them they earned €452,845 during the 15 months to March, 2002.

The accounts only include five months of trading by Eircom as the acquisition was not completed until November 2001.

The group made an operating profit of €40 million during the period but this was dwarfed by the €106 million interest bill on the more than €2 billion in debt taken on to fund the acquisition.

Tax charges and a special dividend paid to the ESOP brought losses to €87 million.

In the notes to the accounts, Valentia discloses that it "is currently considering its financing structure with a view to entering into a new financing agreement to replace the existing debt structure".

Company sources said last night that the company was looking at a bond issue but no decision had yet been taken.

In addition to the debt taken on to acquire Eircom, the company had a €225 million borrowing facility, of which €181 million was not drawn down.

All conditions precedent to this facility "had been met at that date", according to the accounts.

The company had capital commitments at that stage of €200 million, according to the accounts.

Since acquiring Eircom for just over €3 billion, Valentia has revalued the group's assets upwards by €865 million.

The consortium has included a surplus on the Eircom pension fund of €208 million in the group's assets, and revalued its network and properties upwards to €715 million.

This has significantly reduced the goodwill charge associated with the acquisition.