LISBON, July 5 (Reuters) - STC Group and

telecoms tycoon Patrick Drahi have broken off exclusive talks

for Drahi's Altice group to sell its Portuguese business to the

Saudi telecoms company, online economic newspaper Eco reported

on Friday.

The Eco report, citing two unnamed sources familiar with the

talks, said STC had offered 8 billion euros ($8.66 billion) for

Altice Portugal, but the last two weeks of discussions about the

final price led to a breakdown in the negotiations.

An Altice Portugal spokesperson declined to comment. STC

declined to comment.

Altice Portugal is the largest telecommunications player in

the country, operating fixed-line, mobile and pay TV services,

in addition to jointly owning a fibre network with Morgan

Stanley's infrastructure business.

Drahi is looking to sell the Portuguese subsidiary to reduce

the debt of his transatlantic Altice empire, which currently

stands at around $60 billion, based on the company's latest

financial results.

($1 = 0.9242 euros)