HONG KONG, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Hutchison Whampoa Ltd group finance director Frank Sixt said on Friday thecompany is in talks with private equity firms among others tooffer a minority stake in its planned bid for Telefonica'sBritish unit O2.
Earlier, Hutchison confirmed that it was in exclusive talksto buy O2 for up to 10.25 billion pounds ($15.4 billion) asAsia's richest Li Ka-shing makes his biggest bet to consolidatehis European telecommunications operations..
The deal, which is subject to regulatory approval, will befunded using a 6 billion pounds bank loan, Sixt told reporters.
He added the group was reasonably confident of securingEuropean regulatory approval for the transaction. ($1 = 0.6671 pounds) (Reporting by Denny Thomas)
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