Telecom Italia’s towers unit in Brazil has attracted interest from a number of bidders including a Goldman Sachs-backed firm and American Tower, according to Bloomberg.

The sale and leaseback of its towers business, which could raise $1 billion, is part of Telecom Italia’s wider debt-reduction programme.

Offers for the Brazilian business, which owns 6,000 towers, are expected by the end of May.

Cell Site Solutions Cessao de Infraestruturas, which is backed by Goldman Sachs, and American Tower are among those interested, according to sources.

CEO of Tim Participacoes, Rodrigo Abreu, denied the whole Brazilian unit was up for sale.

“There is no offer of any kind to buy Tim,” he said. “There has been no solicitation and there are no negotiations.”

There have been other purchases of towers units in Brazil, including by American Tower which last year bought 2,800 towers owned by Nextel.