Telecommunications industry sources and banking experts said news reports that Eircom was considering selling its retail and Meteor mobile divisions for around 1.8bn came at an inopportune moment in terms of global liquidity.

Eircom refused to comment on speculation that its long-signposted plan to split the company between retail and wholesale was imminent, and management sources within the company claimed to be in the dark about any contact between B&B and possible suitors.

Telecoms experts across a range of fields voiced surprise that Eircom would be looking for a possible buyer in the current climate, and added that the firm's Meteor division is a profitable business which might only be used as a sweetener for the retail side of Eircom's fixed line business.

A private banking source said a European private equity buyer looking to raise the reported 1.8bn asking price for Eircom retail plus Meteor might have problems at the moment as European banks are taking a "rain check" on funding for large buy outs at the present point in time.

For example banks financing Kohlberg Kravis Roberts' (KKR) buyout of pharmacy chain Boots have postponed a deadline for financing the deal after failing to raise �9bn of loans.

Bloomberg reports lenders led by Deutsche Bank began offering the debt to investors three weeks ago but the underwriting banks have had to extend the deadline, in initially set for last Friday, for another week.

The suggestion is that investors are baulking at banks' lending terms after a sell-off across credit markets caused by losses on subprime mortgage securities in the US.

Gary Jenkins, of London-based credit fund Synapse, told Bloomberg he would not be investing in the KKR loans.

"There's been so much volatility and there's going to be more pain out there, " he said.