Around 30 companies are believed to have received the 120-page memorandum on the sale of Cablelink.
The sale, which could generate in excess of £220 million (€279.3 million) is expected to attract keen interest and initial bids must be lodged by March 10th.
Cablelink, which has the second highest penetration in Europe, needs serious upgrading to make it a fully-fledged multimedia company offering everything from video on demand to telephony services. Required investment is understood to be in the region of £150 million to £200 million over the next four to five years.
Industry sources believe the company's value may have received a major boost in the light of Microsoft's entry into cable industry through investments in UPC and NTL. However, others maintain there is a certain amount of "talking up" of the Cablelink price by its advisers.
It is thought the document has made optimistic forecasts for Cablelink's potential to generate revenues into the future. Current revenues could grow four to fivefold over the next five years. At present Cablelink, a well-run company, has annual revenues exceeding £30 million (€38.09 million).
It is understood that the advisers, ABN-Amro Rothschild, believes Cablelink has the ability to increase its subscriber base by more than 70,000 over the next 10 years.
At present, Cablelink has more than 360,000 subscribers, the majority of whom are in Dublin, but it also has customers in Galway and Waterford.
Cablelink is the biggest cable company in Ireland, another attractive selling point. If projections are current then the company's subscriber base would not be far off 500,00 within 10 years.
