KKR and Cinven in takeover talks with Spain's MasMovil - sources

By Pamela Barbaglia and Graham Keeley

LONDON/BARCELONA (Reuters) - A consortium of three buyout funds including KKR <KKR.N> and Cinven is looking to launch a takeover bid for Spanish telecoms company MasMovil <MASM.MC>, two sources close to the matter told Reuters.

The consortium, which also includes U.S. buyout fund Providence, is putting the finishing touches to its proposal to take control of the Madrid-listed company, which has a market value of 2.4 billion euros (2.2 billion pounds), the sources said.

Providence already owns 9.16% of MasMovil, which provides fixed line, mobile and internet services to Spanish households.

If the bid goes through, Providence, KKR and Cinven will have equal shares of Spain's fourth-largest telecoms company, the sources said.

The bid is expected to value the business at slightly more than 22 euros per share, with its overall value hovering around 3 billion euros, one of the sources said.

Morgan Stanley and law firm Freshfields are acting as advisers to the consortium, which is looking to launch a tender offer early next week, both sources said.

MasMovil declined to comment while Morgan Stanley and Freshfields representatives were not immediately available.

Spanish newspaper El Confidencial said in an earlier report that the buyout funds were confident of reaching an agreement with the company's management.

If successful, the deal would mark the first attempt by heavyweight private equity investors to buy a publicly listed company in Europe in a so-called take-private deal since the coronavirus crisis brought the region to a halt.

Spain's Telefonica <TEF.MC> pulled off a $38 billion deal in early May to merge its British mobile operator O2 with Liberty's cable network business Virgin Media.

(Reporting by Pamela Barbaglia in London and Graham Keeley in Barcelona; Editing by David Goodman)