Anite in talks to sell travel business to Lloyds unit - Telegraph

May 12 (Reuters) - Anite Plc (LSE: AIE.L - news) , which provides software to travel and wireless clients, has entered exclusive talks to sell its travel business to LDC, the private equity arm of Lloyds Banking Group Plc, The Telegraph reported on Saturday (Shenzhen: 002291.SZ - news) .

Anite's shares rose as much as 8.4 percent in early trading on Monday, making the stock the top percentage gainer on the London Stock Exchange (Other OTC: LDNXF - news) .

The Telegraph reported that Anite's travel division could fetch around 40 million pounds ($67.4 million). It said Evercore was advising Anite on the sale process. (http://r.reuters.com/myb39v)

Anite declined to comment on the report when contacted by Reuters. LDC could not immediately be reached for comment.

In a trading update on Monday, Anite said it was still investigating the potential sale of its travel reservation software business, in line with its previously announced strategy to focus on its wireless division.

Anite said in February that it was considering selling its Anite Travel unit. The business accounted for about 15 percent of the company's total revenue of 132.5 million pounds ($223.13 million) in 2013.

The sale of the travel business would leave Anite with its wireless network and handset-testing business. Its clients include Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and Vodafone Group Plc.

Anite also said it expected full-year revenue and adjusted operating profit for the year ending April 30, 2014 to be in line with expectations.

The company's stock was trading up 8.1 percent at 89.25 pence at 0710 GMT. ($1 = 0.5938 British Pounds) (Reporting by Noor Zainab Hussain in Bangalore; Editing by Robin Paxton)