Vodafone Group is looking to sell a stake of its Vantage Towers business unit, with a number of potential buyers reportedly lining up bids.

This according to a report by This Is Money, which cites the likeliest scenario to be a 'co-control' deal, under which the telco would sell half of its 82 percent holding.

Vodafone has been long trying to spin off its telco tower assets, with the operator looking to ease its debt pile, which sits at £36 billion ($38.34bn). Its phone mast division is estimated to be worth £12bn ($12.78bn).

Its Vantage Towers unit was floated on the Frankfurt stock market last year, as Vodafone CEO Nick Read pushed for a deal that would have seen Vantage and Deutsche Telekom's mast divisions merge. Deutsche instead opted for a deal with US and Canadian buyers.

Potential buyers of stakes in Vantage Towers include KKR, Global Infrastructure Partners, and Swedish investment firm EQT.

Vodafone has recently looked to streamline its business, with the operator selling its Hungarian business unit for $1.8bn in August. The company has recently sold off its Egyptian unit to Vodacom (in which it owns a large stake), and is reportedly in talks to sell its Ghana business to Telecel Group.

Vodafone has also previously sold off some of its operations in New Zealand, Malta, and Qatar, and has held discussions to sell its remaining 21 percent stake in Indian infrastructure firm Indus Towers.

Vodafone has already sold 7.1 percent of Indus, with 2.4 percent sold through a book build offering and 4.7 percent to telco Bharti Airtel, the tower unit's largest shareholder.

Meanwhile, in the UK the operator has long been linked to a merger with Three UK, which is part of CK Hutchison. Last week French businessman Xavier Niel scooped a 2.5 percent stake in Vodafone Group through his investment vehicle Atlas Investissement, and is keen on consolidation opportunities.