Europe’s largest independent tower operator, Cellnex, has been acquiring infrastructure portfolios at a breakneck rate over the past few years, taking advantage of the trend for European operators to offload some or all of their tower portfolios in order to unlock cash and streamline operations. However, this year has seen the Spanish-based towerco pulling back somewhat, and now it says its expansion plans will not involve M&A for the time being. The change of direction may have been partly driven by the prospect of increased scrutiny from competition regulators, as Cellnex’s leadership of the European market began to spark fears among operators – even those eager to sell their towers – that a consolidated infrastructure market could reduce price competition…