Vodafone, the UK telecommunications group, has played down the possibility that it might have to resurrect its initial public offering for Infostrada if the Italian authorities veto its trade sale of the Italian internet firm to Enel.

Sources close to Vodafone on Wednesday insisted that it was still committed to the proposed €12.1bn ($11.1bn) sale of Infostrada to Enel, the Italian electricity firm, in spite of an investigation into the sale by Italian anti-monopoly authorities. There are concerns that about Enel's potential dominance of the Italian market.