(Telecompaper) Telecom Italia is looking to close a sale or merger of its mobile-phone tower unit Inwit by the end of 2015, according to two unnamed sources cited by Reuters. The news comes after the company's board gave CEO Marco Patuano a mandate to explore the sale of Inwit, whose share value has risen sharply since Telecom Italia raised around EUR 780 million in June from an IPO of a 40 percent stake in the company. One of the sources said Telecom Italia was prepared to cede control of Inwit but wanted to keep a minority stake in the unit. Numerous sources have suggested that Spain's Cellnex Telecom and Italian infrastructure fund F2i are interested in Inwit, without other possible bidders including state-controlled RaiWay and Mediaset-owned EI Towers.