Denis O'Brien, who controls an 11 per cent stake in Independent News & Media (IN&M), said Sir Anthony O'Reilly should retire as chief executive of the company. "It's time for Tony to step aside, let somebody else lead the board," Mr O'Brien said in an interview. "The board is really too old; they don't understand the internet age."

Mr O'Brien and Sir Anthony (71), a former international rugby player and ex-chief executive of HJ Heinz, have a history of business rivalry.

Eircom, formerly chaired by Sir Anthony, outbid Mr O'Brien in 2005 for control of Western Wireless's Meteor mobile phone business. Shares in Independent News & Media have declined 26 per cent this year, giving the company a market value of €1.6 billion. The share price has almost doubled over the last five years.

"What a bizarre comment," said a spokesman for the company. "Independent News & Media plc is one of the top performing media stocks worldwide, as Mr O'Brien is well aware."

Mr O'Brien, who chairs telecoms group Digicel, went on to say he had not ruled out selling shares to the public as the company expands its mobile phone operations in Central America and the Pacific. A public sale is "one of the things we've looked at in the past" and remains a possibility, Mr O'Brien said.

"At the moment, we are fully funded."

Digicel was founded in 2001 and has 5.2 million subscribers in 22 markets, including Bermuda, El Salvador and Jamaica.

The company is considering an expansion into Panama, Honduras and Nicaragua as well as Papua New Guinea and Samoa, Mr O'Brien said.

Bloomberg