India's Reliance Communications and AT&T have talked about a potential transaction in which the US telecoms giant would take a significant minority stake in the Indian firm, the Wall Street Journal said on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.
The sources said that advisers and officials at both companies have been in touch in the past few weeks, although discussions were informal and at an early stage according to the Wall Street Journal report.
The sources also cautioned that a deal was not imminent, the report said. Reliance Com, India's No.2 mobile carrier, said its board had agreed to sell up to 26 per cent of the firm, which could be worth nearly $2 billion at current market levels, though it did not disclose a timeframe or details of the sale.
Shares in Reliance Comm, burdened by debt and the cost of rolling out 3G services, rose 14 percent last week, with speculation rife that Abu Dhabi's Etisalat and South Africa's MTN could be potential partners. AT&T is looking at international expansion as the domestic market saturates, limiting the potential for future growth.
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