PT near deal to buy into Oi, sell Vivo-report
* Media report says PT to buy 23 pct stake in Oi
* Portuguese government to lift veto on Vivo sale
LISBON, July 28 (Reuters) - Portugal Telecom (PTC.LS) is about to sign a preliminary deal to take a 23 percent stake in Brazil's phone company Oi TNLP4.SA, which would allow PT to sell its stake in Vivo VIVO4.SA to Telefonica (TEF.MC), a local newspaper reported.
O Jornal de Negocios said on its web site late on Tuesday the Oi deal would be worth 3.75 billion euros ($4.84 billion) and PT will finance the operation via a capital increase.
The report, which did not cite its sources, said the PT administration already had an agreement on the deal with its main shareholders, but was waiting for a formal approval by its board meeting this week.
A memorandum of understanding on buying the stake in Oi should be signed in the next few days, it said. It added that the deal had the blessing of the Portuguese government, which would lift its veto on the sale of PT's stake in Brazil's Vivo to Spain's Telefonica.
PT officials were not immediately available for comment.
Telefonica formally dropped its 7.15 billion euro offer for Portugal Telecom's stake in their Brazilian cell phone joint venture Vivo earlier in July after the Portuguese government opposed the offer with a 'golden share', but PT has said it is looking for a solution. [nLDE66518V]
Folha de S.Paulo newspaper reported that Brazil's government, one of the main shareholders in Oi, was working on a deal to make Oi and PT partners to manage a national high-speed Internet network and for the companies to exchange minority stakes.
Oi is the product of a government-sponsored merger of two rival Brazilian phone companies early last year to create a Brazilian telecommunications company able to compete with foreign rivals. It is controlled by a group formed by Brazil's state development bank, pension funds and local business groups.
(Reporting by Andrei Khalip, editing by Leslie Gevirtz)
((andrei.khalip@thomsonreuters.com; (351) 917-860-881; RM: andrei.khalip.reuters.com@reuters.net))
($1=.7746 Euro) Keywords: PORTUGALTELECOM/VIVO
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