(Telecompaper) French telecom investment group Altice, owned by French billionaire Patrick Drahi, is in "relatively advanced" talks to buy the Portuguese assets of Brazilian operator Oi, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters. Altice has been looking for acquisitions to boost its presence in Europe and Drahi said at an investor conference in September that his group would target acquisitions in countries where it already had a presence, citing Portugal and Belgium. Oi, which would not comment on the matter, is in the process of merging with Portugal Telecom.