LJUBLJANA (Slovenia), September 11 (SeeNews) - Slovenian telecommunications equipment manufacturer Iskratel has hired global consultancy PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) to help it find a new strategic partner, local media reported on Wednesday.

"The structured process for searching a strategic partner for Iskratel has been underway," media outlet Siol.net quoted the director general of the company, Zeljko Pujic, as saying.

"We already have in our plan negotiations with several potential strategic partners," Pujic said without elaborating.

Less than a year ago, Iskratel was in talks with Munich-based Bavaria Industries Group, which was considered the possible new owner at the time.

Pujic said that the two sides had failed to reach an agreement and Bavaria Industries Group withdrew the talks.

Iskratel plans to increase its sales revenue by 5% to 109 million euro ($120 million) this year and post a 3.3 million euro net profit, according to the media report.

Information published on Iskratel's website shows that its net profit increased by some 20% to 4.0 million euro last year on the back of a 17% rise in sales revenue to 104 million euro.

Iskratel recently announced plans to enter the diagnostic medical devices market and focus on the development of fifth-generation (5G) mobile networks, Siol.net reported.

The company says it employs 900 people in 30 locations worldwide and has a global footprint in more than 50 countries.

Iskratel was set up in 1989 as a joint venture with German industrial giant Siemens. Now it is majority owned by the Iskratel group (comprising the company's management and workers), after Siemens sold its 47.7% stake in the company and later Gorenjska Banka offloaded its 25% interest.

($=0.909060 euro)