GO said last week it was considering investing in a Greek telephone operator, along with its main shareholder, Emirates International Telecommunications Ltd. It didn’t provide further details.

The statement, put on the Malta Stock Exchange company announcements and distributed by Regulatory News Service, came a day after ForthNet SA, Greece’s second-biggest Internet company, confirmed a report its main owners are in talks with a foreign investor to sell a “significant” minority stake.

According to sources quoted by reporter.gr, ForthNet’s major shareholders have accepted an offer to sell a “substantial stake” to a partnership of Dubai Investment Holdings and Tecom, both subsidiaries of UAE conglomerate Dubai Holding, and a European partner, possibly GO.

Novator Equities, which controls at least a 10.2 per cent stake in ForthNet, and Cycladic Catalyst Master Fund which holds 8.19 per cent of shares in the firm, were reported to be in negotiations to sell their stakes to an international investor.