PRIVATE equity firm CITIC Capital plans to take private AsiaInfo Technologies Ltd. in a deal that could value the telecom software provider at about US$1.8 billion, sources with direct knowledge of the matter said.

AsiaInfo’s largest shareholder with a 23.4 percent stake is talking with banks to finance the deal, said the sources, in what would add to a surge in buyout firms tapping Hong Kong for take-private opportunities. CITIC Capital denied the deal.

The sources said CITIC Capital aims to pursue the deal in partnership with China Mobile Communications Group Co., AsiaInfo’s second-biggest shareholder with a 19.9 percent stake and parent of leading network provider China Mobile Ltd.

The goal is to eventually list AsiaInfo on the mainland to take advantage of higher valuations, said one of the sources, who declined to be identified due to confidentiality constraints.

A prospective offer from CITIC Capital, the flagship alternative investment arm of financial conglomerate CITIC Group Corp., would represent a premium of about 30 percent to AsiaInfo’s average share price over the past month of HK$11.5 (US$1.48), the sources said.

CITIC Capital said the information about its plans for taking AsiaInfo private, the deal’s financing and partnering with China Mobile Communications is inaccurate.

Beijing-based AsiaInfo was established in 1993 and currently provides services such as cloud consulting and operation to over 200 telecom carriers, including State-owned majors China Mobile, China Telecom Corp. and China Unicom.

(SD-Agencies)