Telecom Italia this week said it has received strong interest in its towers business and that its board plans to discuss the future of the unit this week.
The Italian incumbent has not received a firm offer for Infrastrutture Wireless Italiane (INWIT), Reuters quoted company CEO Marco Patuano as saying to reporters on Monday. However, the firm is keeping its options open.
INWIT was created to be "financially very light" to give Telecom Italia flexibility to move in any direction, Patuano said, in response to a question about the business being taken over.
Patuano confirmed that Telecom Italia is not in talks with Spanish towers company Cellnex about INWIT. The comment came after Cellnex last week denied media reports that it was working on a deal to acquire a stake in its Italian peer.
Interest in INWIT has grown following its recent IPO. Telecom Italia raised a total of €875.3 million from the sale of a 40% stake in the firm, including an overallotment option. INWIT started trading on the Borsa Italiana in June.
