Telecoms group Vimpelcom Ltd and Egyptian tycoon Naguib Sawiris are close to signing a non-binding term sheet for the sale of Sawiris's holding company Weather Investments, Il Sole 24 Ore said on Tuesday. Sawiris is working with Lazard, Deutsche Bank and Citigroup to sell Weather to Vimpelcom, the paper said, citing financial speculation. Last Thursday two sources told Reuters that Vimpelcom is in talks to buy Wind, Italy's No.3 mobile operator, and 51 percent of Egyptian group Orascom Telecom from Sawiris. Sawiris controls 100 percent of Italian telecom group Wind and just over 50 percent of Orascom Telecom via his holding company Weather Investments. Vimplecom declined to make immediate comment on the Il Sole 24 Ore report on Tuesday and Orascom was not immediately available to comment.
