A consortium led by Singapore Technologies Telemedia Pte and Telekom Malaysia Bhd has bid for the one-third stake of AT&T Wireless Services Inc in Indian telecom major Idea Cellular Ltd.

"An agreement between the consortium and Idea has been reached and a final deal is expected to be formalised in the next few days," Idea chief executive officer Vikram Mehmi told PTI over phone from Pune on Tuesday.

The final transaction would be completed after due diligence and necessary approvals in the next few weeks, he said. Mehmi did not divulge the price of the deal, but said it would be announced 'soon.'

The deal, he said, would make Idea the leading mobile telephony major in the country. Industry sources pegged the deal at around $350 million. The other two stakeholders - AV Birla group and Tata Group - would continue to hold their existing 33 per cent in the company, he said.

Earlier this year, Idea had purchased Escorts Ltd's telecom businesses - Escotel Mobile Communications Ltd and Escorts Telecommunications Ltd, which had helped the company garner a foothold in 11 circles Escotel was operating in.

Idea has around 3.84 million subscribers as on April 30, 2004. ST Telemedia is the biggest investor in Global Crossing Ltd of US and PT Indonesian Satellite Corporation, while Telekom Malaysia has investments in South Africa, Ghana, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Thailand and Cambodia.