Vodafone is in informal discussions about a €400 million-plus (£280 million) deal to buy the 27 per cent of its German fixed-line business Arcor that it does not own.

The mobile phone group has approached Arcor’s minority shareholders, Deutsche Bahn, the German railway operator, and Deutsche Bank, about selling their stakes.

Deutsche Bahn has talked about a price of up to €800 million for the two stakes, but Vodafone’s advisers are thought likely to enter formal negotiations at a price closer to €400 million.

The move represents a U-turn for Vodafone. For many years it hoped to sell Arcor, which it gained as part of its £101 billion acquisition of Mannes-mann in early 2000, because it thought that mobile phones would displace fixed lines.

It kept Arcor, which is Germany’s second-biggest fixed-line operator after Deutsche Telekom with more than 2.1 million broadband customers, after deciding it did not need the cash. There was also speculation that it could not achieve the valuation it wanted.

Last year the British group conceded that as wireless markets matured and “converged”, and offerings incorporating fixed-line and other telecoms services became more popular, a mobile-only strategy was no longer feasible.

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