AEA Investors on short list for Huawei bids--sources

HONG KONG, July 3 (Reuters) - In an auction involving several large U.S. private equity firms, mid-sized buyout firm AEA Investors made it through the first round of bidding for the mobile devices unit of China's Huawei Technologies, sources said on Thursday.

Bain Capital, Goldman Sach's private equity group, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and Silver Lake also made it through round one of the bidding, sources involved with the deal said.

The fast-growing unit produced $2 billion in revenues last year.

The presence of AEA in an auction with buyout giants is attributed to the expertise of managing director Bill Owens, who is the former CEO of telecommunications equipment maker Nortel Networks Corp NT.TO NT.N and based in Hong Kong.

(Reporting by Michael Flaherty, Editing by Jonathan Hopfner)