Eircom turned down a bid of up to €3.3 billion for the business in the first three months of the year.

The telecoms company, which on Monday reported a one per cent decline in quarterly revenues, told the stock exchange after closing on Tuesday that it had previously received “a non-binding expression of interest” in the group.

“While the bidder was very credible, the board believed that, with the business reaching an inflection point, the indicated price range undervalued the group,” it said.

Richard Moat, its chief executive, says Eircom's "inflection point" is reflected in the fact that will return to revenue growth this quarter, the first time in seven years the business has grown its topline.

Eircom said the discussions with the current bidder are “not being progressed” because it was too low.

Meanwhile, Wednesday is the deadline for a request from Eircom to extend by more than two years to 2022 the repayment date for about €2 billion of its loans.