Saudi Telecom denies stake talks in Reliance's Infratel

Saudi Telecom Company has denied that it was discussing a stake in India’s GTL-Reliance Infratel tower unit.

"There are no discussions to buy a stake in this firm", Ghassan Hasbani, the chief executive for international operations at STC, was quoted by Arabian Business.

STC, which is the Arab world's largest telecom company by market value, had earlier said that it was considering expansion opportunities abroad in South Asia, the Middle East and North Africa.

More recently, a report in an Indian financial daily, Business Standard, had said, citing sources with direct knowledge of the developments, that state-owned STC was exploring a stake of 10 to 15 percent in the newly created GTL-Reliance Infratel tower unit.

The report also mentioned that private equity funds including Carlyle, Blackstone and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, the sovereign wealth fund of the Abu Dhabi government, too had evinced interest to invest in the venture.