PARIS (AFP) - Spanish telecommunications operator Auna might be the target of an 11-billion-euro (14.3-billion-dollar) takeover by five investment funds.
If the transaction went ahead it would be by far the biggest leveraged buyout in Europe, the Financial Times newspaper reported Wednesday.
A leveraged buyout is based on the principle of using the expected earnings of a company to help buyers pay for the business.
The funds believed to be involved were US funds Blackstone, Carlyle and Providence and British companies Apex Partners and CVC Capital.
Auna is the second-biggest Spanish telecommunications operator after Telefonica with interests in fixed line telehpony and is the third-biggest operator of mobile phone networks.
The FT report said the consortium of investment funds was being advised by Lazards.
Auna had recently been seeking an alliance with Spanish cable operator ONO who rejected a takeover bid by Auna worth 2.4 billion euros.
Analysts said that Auna's strategy had been to create a group big enough to compete with the leading Spanish operator Telefonica.
11/17/2004 - 10:56 GMT - AFP