(Telecompaper) Vodafone Group confirmed it's in talks with Verizon Communications to sell its 45 percent stake in their US joint venture Verizon Wireless. The company said there was no certainty an agreement would be reached. The statement follows a report in the Wall Street Journal that the two had restarted talks on the deal. Previous talks had broken down over price, with Verizon looking to pay around USD 100 billion for the stake and Vodafone hoping for more like USD 130 billion, people familiar with the matter said. Verizon is expected to finance the deal through a combination of cash and stock. The recent increase in interest rates has reportedly prompted the company to push again for the deal, in order to avoid a more costly takeover in future.