Telma Madagscar is thought to be in discussions over an entrance into neighbouring African island Comoros, where the government is underway with an international tender process to privatise state-controlled Comores Telecom.

Sources said Telma is eyeing several opportunities across the region, and as previously reported by TMT Finance has hired Lazard to bring in an investor or sell its towers portfolio to raise capital to fund acquisitions.

“There doesn’t seem to have been much traction yet for Telma,” one source said. “There was a handful of telcos looking at it but the price expectation was deemed too high. The towers process is complicated, and will not a top priority for towercos at the moment, with plenty of other assets in play across the continent.”

The plan for Comores Telecom is to sell 51% of the share capital, with the state retaining 34% and staff taking 15%. The privatisation is required under the terms of an IMF assistance package to allow the state to deal with its E133m external debt. Comores Telecom has 230,000 mobile subscribers. It has 1,200 staff.

As previously reported,the government announced plans to transfer the telco’s primary assets into a new entity called Newco.