Vivendi denies RCom stake report

PARIS, FRANCE: Europe's largest entertainment group Vivendi denied a media report on Wednesday that it was in talks to buy a 26 per cent stake in Reliance Communications.

Vivendi is not "in any talks" with Reliance, a spokesman for the French group said.

Shares of Vivendi were down 2.2 per cent at 17.59 euros by 0735 GMT, underperforming a 1 per cent fall in the Paris benchmark CAC-40 index.

The Economic Times newspaper reported that Vivendi, which has telecom operations in France, Morocco and Brazil, had been talking to Reliance for a month and the discussions were at an advanced stage, citing a person with direct knowledge.

Reliance Communications, India's number-two mobile carrier, is burdened by debt and the cost of rolling out 3G services. It said earlier this month its board had agreed to sell up to 26 percent of the firm.

The carrier has a market capitalisation of 383.9 billion Indian rupees ($8.6 billion) and is majority owned by billionaire Anil Ambani's Reliance conglomerate.

Since the stake sale announcement, speculation has been rife that global firms such as AT&T Inc and South Africa's MTN Group could partner with Reliance Communications. Both those firms have denied being in discussion on a deal.

Abu Dhabi's Etisalat has said it was looking to buy a stake in an Indian operator and was evaluating several options, including a deal with Reliance Communications, as it mulls its options in India.