Wind looks to sell off tower assets

The Italian fixed and mobile operator Wind Telecomunicazioni is reported to be considering offloading over half of its mobile towers in a bid to reduce debt. Reuters reports that the Vimpelcom subsidiary is looking at selling up to 11,000 towers and then leasing back the infrastructure from the new owner. Around 30 potential bidders, including specialist tower firms such as American Tower and Crown Castle, have already been contacted over a possible deal, the report suggests. The sale could raise up to EUR500 million (USD650 million) which would go towards reducing Wind’s EUR9.6 billion debt pile.