LONDON - BRITISH transport operator National Express has been holding talks to sell its London bus operations to Singapore's Comfort DelGro , the Sunday Telegraph said, citing sources close to the talks.

Comfort DelGro, which describes itself as the world's second largest land transport company, is already the operator of the Metroline bus network, which runs around 14 per cent of London's buses.

The newspaper said the Singaporean company was understood to have approached National Express about a deal that would value the unit at around 50 million pounds (S$107 million). The talks were discontinued in recent weeks but could be revived as part of a review of National Express assets, it said.

National Express could not immediately be reached for comment.

The company, which is led by Richard Bowker, is examining options to raise capital, including through a rights issue. The sale of non-core assets, such as the London bus operations, is another potential route to generating funds ahead of a deadline a year from now to refinance almost 500 million pounds of debt. -- REUTERS