Exclusive: Motherson Sumi in early stage talks with Leoni over deal - sources

By Arno Schuetze and Sumeet Chatterjee

FRANKFURT/HONG KONG (Reuters) - Car wiring maker Motherson Sumi is in early-stage talks with German peer Leoni over a possible combination of the two companies, two people close to the matter said.

Motherson Sumi, which has been scouting for a sizeable acquisition target in Europe with the help of an investment bank, still needs to work out the financing for a possible deal, expected to be worth more than 1 billion euros ($1.14 billion), one of the people said.

The exact deal structure is still unclear, and deliberations may not result in any deal at all, the sources said.

Motherson Sumi, which has a market cap of $7.1 billion, had no immediate comment. Leoni declined to comment.

($1 = 0.8806 euros)

(Additional reporting by Aditi Shah and Alexander Hübner; Editing by Maria Sheahan)