Maxis Berhad, Malaysia's largest telecom operator, has held preliminary discussions with bankers representing Russia's Sistema over selling its Indian unit, Aircel, The Economic Times reported.

“Maxis sees itself as a long term player in India, but will listen to offers in the wake of regulatory and policy uncertainty. Bankers have brought many potential permutations and combinations for mergers and strategic alliances, including that of Sistema, to the company”, an executive close to Maxis with direct knowledge of the discussions told ET.

The executive said Maxis was also upset with the way the investigating agencies had dragged Krishnan and other top officials into the probe surrounding the circumstances under which the Malaysian company acquired Aircel from serial entrepreneur C Sivasankaran.