A document that will be circulated to Eircom's 450,000 shareholders next week will confirm that Sir Anthony O'Reilly has a stake of just over 4 per cent in Valentia, the company set up by four American venture capital companies for the #2.9billion bid for Eircom. It is understood the document, which is in effect an abridged version of the formal offer document, will be posted to Eircom shareholders on Tuesday. The formal offer document is not expected to be dispatched to shareholders for another month.

The "Rule 2.5 document" will also show that the Eircom Employee Share Ownership Trust (ESOT) will increase its stake in Eircom to 29.9 per cent by buying another 15 per cent of the shares. Warrants, however, will bring the ESOT's stake to just under 31 per cent, although its voting rights will be limited to 25 per cent.

Sir Anthony, who is non-executive chairman of Valentia and is acting in a personal capacity, will have to invest more than #100 million in respect of his 4 per cent shareholding.

The document will also show that most of the remaining 65 per cent of Valentia is held by Warburg Pincus, Soros Capital, and Providence Equity, with Goldman Sachs having a minor shareholding.