By Yvonne Lee
HONG KONG--Citic Telecom International Holdings Ltd. (1883.HK)
said it is in discussions to acquire a 51% stake in a Macau
telecommunications company from U.K.-based Cable & Wireless
Communications PLC (CWC.LN).
Citic Telecom, the telecom subsidiary of Chinese conglomerate
Citic Pacific Ltd. (0267.HK), didn't give the financial terms of
the potential deal in a statement Wednesday. In a report Tuesday,
the Financial Times cited people familiar with the situation as
saying Cable & Wireless was close to completing a deal to sell
the Macau telecom operator, Companhia de Telecomunicacoes de Macau
SARL, that could raise US$600 million to US$650 million.
Citic Telecom, which already holds a 20% interest in the Macau
company, said it would fund the acquisition from its internal
resources, bank or debt financing, or equity financing, including a
rights issue.
No definite agreement has been made at this stage, the company
said.
In addition, Citic Pacific is considering selling some of it
shares in Citic Telecom to parent company Citic Group Corp., a
financial conglomerate that was set up in 1979 by the late Vice
President Rong Yiren and operates under the direction of the State
Council, China's cabinet.
Write to Yvonne Lee at yvonne.lee@wsj.com
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