Caixabank to look at how Telefonica and STC can cooperate

MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's Caixabank, a major shareholder in Telefonica, will analyse with the telecoms group any potential cooperation with STC after the Saudi telecoms firm's recent investment in Telefonica, the bank's CEO said on Friday.

Gonzalo Gortazar also said Caixabank had no plans to strengthen its position in Telefonica, in a further hint at a constructive approach towards STC's entry, adding the fact that capital was coming into Spain was "good news."

Caixabank has a 3.5% stake in Telefonica and a seat on its board.

Last month, Saudi Arabia's largest telecoms operator, STC Group, said it aimed to become Telefonica's biggest shareholder, with a stake of 9.9% worth around 2.1 billion euros ($2.2 billion).

"Very particularly, we have to see what possibilities (Telefonica) has to cooperate with this great company, due to its size and relevance, which is STC," Gortazar said, adding Caixabank would seek to express its views on the matter at board-level discussions.

As Telefonica is considered a defence service provider, Spain's Defence Ministry has a say in acquisitions and holdings between 5% and 10%, unless the buyer commits not to request a seat on the board.

"The government has to comply with the regulations that exist with respect to the control of investments in strategic defence companies and I think (the government) has to be allowed to do that part of its work," Gortazar said.

STC's holding consists of 4.9% of Telefonica's shares and financial instruments that give it another 5% in so-called economic exposure to the company.

STC, which has yet to request authorisation from the Spanish government to exercise voting rights corresponding to the financial instruments, has said it does not intend to acquire control or a majority stake in Telefonica.

(Reporting by Jesús Aguado; Editing by Andrei Khalip and Mark Potter)