France Telecom wants to conclude a deal to buy TeliaSonera this week, French daily La Tribune reported on Monday.

"The French group hopes to seal a deal soon. Or it will renounce," the paper said, adding France Telecom did not want uncertainty over the acquisition to "continue beyond this week".

"The suspense should not last very long," the paper cited an investment banker close to France telecom as saying.

France Telecom could not be immediately reached for comment.

Last week, France Telecom said it had opened talks with TeliaSonera about the possibility of entering formal negotiations on its indicative $41 billion bid for the Swedish-Finnish group.

It also signaled it may be willing to increase the cash portion of its offer but insisted the margin for doing so was "extremely limited".

Source:Reuters