A consortium led by French private equity group Ardian reportedly emerged as a front runner in the race to acquire a stake in mobile tower business Inwit, with Reuters stating the company was selected following a negotiation process involving numerous interested parties.

The news outlet stated Ardian was preparing a move to acquire a 25 per cent stake in the Telecom Italia-owned tower company: the holding is valued at €2 billion. However any deal could depend on the success of a planned move by Vodafone Italy to fold its tower assets into Inwit, Reuters stated.

Vodafone and Telecom Italia’s move is yet to be approved by the European Commission.

Telecom Italia currently owns a 60 per cent stake in Inwit. Should the deal with Vodafone be approved, both operators will take an equal 37.5 per cent stake in Inwit.

As part of the terms, the pair already agreed to sell a combined 25 per cent of the merged business.

In a push to address concerns over the tower merger, which has attracted fire from rival Iliad Italia, the companies last week offered competitors access to some sites in the country.

Telecom Italia CEO Luigi Gubitosi confirmed plans to sell a stake in the combined Inwit in November 2019, as it looks to tap growing interest in alternative sectors from financiers.