PCCW unit stake sale on track; eyes IPTV in India

NEW DELHI, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Hong Kong's PCCW (0008.HK) is on track to sell a stake in its telecom unit, and is eyeing opportunities for Internet Protocol TV in India, a senior official said on Thursday. "We are on track," Ian Stone, managing director of PCCW's international projects, told Reuters on the sidelines of an industry conference in the country's capital.

PCCW, Hong Kong's former monopoly fixed-line carrier, had said in May it planned to fold its core media and telecoms businesses into a separate firm called HKT and sell 45 percent of the new company.

A deal, expected to come late this year, could fetch $2.5 billion.

Sources have told Reuters seven private equity firms, Bain Capital, Carlyle Group [CYL.UL], MBK Partners, TPG [TPG.UL], Providence Equity Partners, Apax Partners and Macquarie Group have made it past the first round. (Reporting by Devidutta Tripathy; Editing by Ranjit Gangadharan)