Rothschild and UBS Warburg are frontrunners for acquisition mandates from Tiscali, the Italian internet service provider, which has targeted Spain and the UK in its expansion plans.

Renato Soru, chairman and chief executive of Europe's second largest ISP, told Il Sole 24 Ore that a presence in the two countries was essential if Tiscali was to become a leader in the European market. T-Online, an ISP owned by Deutsche Telekom, is currently Europe's largest ISP.