JOHANNESBURG, Sept 27 (Reuters) - Vodacom Group isin talks to buy Tata Communications' stake in SouthAfrican telecoms operator Neotel for more than 5 billion rand($500 million), Bloomberg reported on Friday, citing a personfamiliar with the matter.
Vodacom is the South African unit of Vodafone Group Plc. India's Tata owns more than 60 percent of Neotel, aprovider of fixed-line service and data.
The talks are set to become exclusive, Bloomberg said.
Neotel was not immediately available for comment and Vodacomdeclined to comment.
"It is not our policy to comment on market speculation," aTata Communications spokeswoman in Mumbai said.
Reports of discussions to sell the firm have been swirlingfor most of this year and Vodacom's bigger rival, MTN,confirmed in August that it was no longer in talks for a stakein Neotel.