Vodafone has told investors that it’s willing to accept a lower debt rating if it pursues an acquisition, reports Bloomberg, a move financial analysts believe suggests it is under no pressure to sell its stake in Verizon Wireless.

Speaking at a Citigroup conference, Vodafone CFO Andy Halford said the company would take a BBB+ rating, one step below its current Standard & Poor’s A- ranking.

According to a Citigroup note, the willingness of Vodafone to take the lower rating and the necessary additional debt indicates it isn’t under pressure to sell the 45 per cent stake it holds in US number-one operator Verizon Wireless. Verizon Communications and Vodafone are understood to be weighing the options for the future ownership of the Verizon Wireless joint venture.

“They’re just making it clear that they could buy without necessarily being a forced seller of Verizon Wireless, which is a very rational thing to do,” Robin Bienenstock, analyst at Bernstein Research, told Bloomberg.

Bienenstock added that Vodafone may need to take on around £7 billion of additional debt to downgrade its rating. This could be used to finance a bid for German cable operator Kabel Deutschland as Vodafone looks to expand its fixed-line presence.