Apple Inc reached out to Blackstone Group's finance boss Laurence Tosi to tap him for the position of CFO at the iPhone maker, a source familiar with the situation said on Thursday.

Tosi, who holds a senior position at one of the world's biggest and most influential buyout firms, decided against moving to Apple, the source said.

It is the first indication that Apple might be seeking to replace its CFO, Peter Oppenheimer, who started at the tech giant in 1996, according to the company's website.

However, Apple denied that it is looking for a new CFO.

Peter is not leaving Apple, said Apple spokesman Steve Dowling. We are not conducting a CFO search. He loves the company and is extremely happy in his role.

When asked specifically whether an approach had been made to Tosi, Dowling repeated that Apple is not conducting a CFO search.

News of the approach was first reported by Bloomberg.

Blackstone declined comment.

(Reporting by Paul Thomasch, Megan Davies and Ken Li in New York; Editing by Bernard Orr)