United Arab Emirates telco Etisalat has hired the services of banks to advise on its potential purchase of Vivendi's 53% stake in Morocco's biggest telco, Maroc Telecom.

This is according to a Reuter’s report, which said the state-controlled firm picked BNP Paribas and Morocco's Attijariwafa Bank as financial advisers for the proposed sale.

It was also reported that Etisalat was talking to banks about a syndicated loan of up to $8 billion to finance the potential transaction.

Multinational media group Vivendi is selling its majority share in Maroc Telecom, and companies such as Qatar’s Qtel, Saudi Arabia’s STC and South Africa’s MTN have also been named as possible bidders.

In a statement earlier this year Etisalat said, “Interest in Maroc Telecom is consistent with our stated strategy of
selective expansion in our core Middle East and Africa (MENA) markets and would complement our existing operations in Sub-Saharan Africa.”