Japanese technology giant SoftBank is apparently in talks to buy a 20 per cent stake in handset maker Micromax Informatics, in a deal which could value the Indian company at around $5 billion.

According to Reuters, the sale will be sold by existing investors, meaning the cash will not go to the company itself. But it would give Micromax an important strategic investor.

Bloomberg recently said that the device maker is looking to bolster its software proposition in order to aid its differentiation, noting that moving into the internet services space is something that requires “investment, new capabilities and strategic partnerships”.

SoftBank has also been previously mooted as a potential backer.

In addition to owning mobile operators (SoftBank in Japan and Sprint in the US), it has stakes in Yahoo Japan, mobile games companies GungHo and Supercell, and Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba.