BERLIN, Feb 4 (Reuters) – Freenet, the largest shareholder in Switzerland’s Sunrise Communications, is aware of cooperation talks between Sunrise and Liberty Global’s local Swiss business UPC and welcomes the idea of consolidation, a Freenet spokeswoman said.

She said in response to an inquiry on Monday that various combinations were possible and Freenet would need to approve any cash deal, although this was not excluded should it conclude that a transaction was in Freenet’s interests.

Freenet owns 24.6 percent of Sunrise, long the centre of speculation that it could link up with UPC, most recently in a report by the Financial Times.