Angola sells 80 pct of telecoms group Movicel

LUANDA, July 30 (Reuters) - The government approved the sale of 80 percent of Angola's second largest telecoms group Movicel to several companies in one of the country's biggest post-war privatisations.

The price paid and location of the purchasing firms was not disclosed in Thursday's government statement which was approved at a cabinet meeting late on Wednesday.

The statement said Porturil-Investments will buy 40 percent of Movicel, Modus Comicare-Comunicacoes e Imagem Lda will hold 19 percent and I pang-industria de Papel e Derivados will own 10 percent.

Lambda-Investment, another private company, will buy 6 percent while Novatel S.A. will hold 5 percent. State-owned firms Angola Telecom and Correios Telegrafos de Angola will retain the remaining 20 percent.

Angola's biggest mobile operator is Unitel with more than five million subscribers. Unitel's shareholders include Portugal Telecom (PTC.LS: Quote, Profile, Research) and Sonangol SA, the state-owned oil company, each with 25 percent.

With a population of 16.5 million, Angola is recovering from an almost three-decade long civil war that ended in 2002. The country rivals Nigeria as Africa's biggest oil producer.

(Reporting by Henrique Almeida)