Indonesia's Link Net puts stake sale on hold

* CVC (Taiwan OTC: 4744.TWO - news) , Lippo (HKSE: 0226-OL.HK - news) seek to sell combined 67.3 pct in Link Net

* Indosat may drop bid for Link Net stake-CEO

* Indonesian economy grew at weakest pace since crisis (Adds comment from Link Net, background)

By Cindy Silviana and Eveline Danubrata

JAKARTA, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Indonesian cable television and broadband operator PT Link Net Tbk has put on hold the sale of a majority stake until the economy improves, a spokeswoman said on Tuesday.

Private equity firm CVC Capital Partners and Indonesian conglomerate Lippo Group's media arm PT First Media Tbk were seeking to sell their combined 67.3 percent stake in Link Net.

However, the slowdown in Indonesia's economy has made it more difficult to strike a deal, Liryawati, investor relations director at Link Net, told Reuters by telephone.

Several companies including Indonesian budget carrier Lion Air have delayed planned initial public offerings or deals as Southeast Asia's biggest economy grew at its weakest pace since the global financial crisis.

Based on the latest talks, Indonesian telecoms firm PT Indosat Tbk, which is majority-owned by Qatar's Ooredoo QSC (E:ORDS.QA - news) , is considering dropping its bid for the Link Net stake, Indosat Chief Executive Alexander Rusli told Reuters by text message on Tuesday.

Providence Equity Partners and Indosat were the remaining bidders after MNC Group and PT XL Axiata Tbk (Other OTC: PTXKY - news) dropped out, people familiar with the matter said in September.

At that time, CVC and Lippo had sought a total valuation of $1.3 billion-$1.5 billion for Link Net, said the people, who declined to be named as the information was confidential. That compares with Link Net's current market value of around $720 million.

Providence and First Media did not provide immediate comment. CVC was not available for immediate comment. (Reporting by Cindy Silviana and Eveline Danubrata; editing by Jason Neely and David Evans)