Etisalat Considers Stake in Reliance Communications (Update1) - Bloomberg.com

Emirates Telecommunications Corp., the United Arab Emirates’ phone company known as Etisalat, is considering several opportunities in India, including buying a stake in Reliance Communications Ltd., Chairman Mohammed Omran said.

“We have not made an offer, but we are studying several opportunities in India, among them is Reliance Communications,” Omran said today at a conference in Amman, Jordan. “The market in India is going through a consolidation and we want to be an active player in India.”

Reliance Communications, India’s second-largest wireless carrier, said today its board has “in principle” approved a plan to sell as much as a 26 percent stake to a strategic or private equity investor. The company would sell the shares at an “appropriate premium to the prevailing market price” and “examine and pursue other appropriate strategic combination or consolidation opportunities,” it said.