Following Telecom Italia’s decision to sell up to 40 per cent of towers business Inwit, CEO Marco Patuano said there are “several options on the table” for the unit, according to a Financial Times report.

These include M&A deals with regional rivals to create a European infrastructure group or deploying new 5G infrastructure.

Patuano (pictured) said Inwit could be a good investment for companies outside Europe wanting to enter the regional towers market, adding that the business could also acquire more mobile or broadcasting mast infrastructure or strike a deal with a rival tower company like Cellnex.

Reuters has reported that Inwit may be looking into an M&A deal with state-controlled tower company Rai Way, as it looks to play a leading role in future sector consolidation.

Oscar Cicchetti, Inwit CEO, said the company could also grow by developing new 5G infrastructure, but believes combining regional telecoms towers groups would not result in obvious synergies.

Cellnex was recently floated by Spanish company Abertis, with a value of around £4 billion, and is part of a growing trend in Europe to split towers infrastructure, something that is well developed in US and parts of Africa.

Inwit has a valuation of between €1.95 billion and €2.34 billion based on TI’s proposed share price range. It has 11,500 sites where it hosts radio transmission equipment for mobile phone networks.