Reuters reported Iliad Group could seek to bolster its Italian unit through investing in a new Telecom Italia services unit proposed by the Italian operator’s CEO Pietro Labriola.

The news agency stated Iliad is interested in buying into Telecom Italia’s domestic consumer services business.

Earlier this year, Labriola outlined a plan to split the Italian operator’s  infrastructure assets from its services operations.

This unit would include Telecom Italia’s fixed and mobile consumer businesses as well as radio frequencies. CVC Capital Partners previously submitted a non-binding proposal for a minority stake in the operator’s enterprise services operations.

Reuters noted Iliad has shifted its focus to Telecom Italia after attempts to buy Vodafone’s Italian operations came to nothing.

Iliad Group CEO Thomas Reynaud also reportedly confirmed the operator was in talks with WindTre on a network-sharing deal in Italy which would help reduce the cost of rolling out a 5G mobile network in the country.

Telecom Italia has already attracted interest from US investor KKR, which made a €10.8 billion non-binding offer for the group, though the pair appeared to be at an impasse over how to proceed with any potential deal.

The Italian operator is also pursuing alternative strategies as part of an internal revamp, recently starting talks with state lender CDP on a potential merger of its fixed network with state-backed Open Fiber.