Hutchison looks to bring in minority partners for Telefonica's UK unit deal

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hutchison Whampoa Ltd group finance director Frank Sixt said on Friday the company is in talks with private equity firms among others to offer a minority stake in its planned bid for Telefonica's British unit O2. Earlier, Hutchison confirmed that it was in exclusive talks to buy O2 for up to 10.25 billion pounds ($15.4 billion) as Asia's richest Li Ka-shing makes his biggest bet to consolidate his European telecommunications operations.. The deal, which is subject to regulatory approval, will be funded using a 6 billion pounds bank loan, Sixt told reporters. He added the group was reasonably confident of securing European regulatory approval for the transaction. ($1 = 0.6671 pounds) (Reporting by Denny Thomas)