Vodafone CEO Vittorio Colao has denied he plans to mount a takeover bid for U.S.-based cable group Liberty Global.

Vodafone has been buying up fixed assets and recently confirmed plans to return to the U.K.'s fixed broadband market; it aims to launch a service based on the Cable & Wireless Worldwide assets it acquired in 2012.

Late last week, Reuters reported that Vodafone was exploring how it could further bulk up its U.K. fixed business. The newswire cited unnamed sources as saying that the mobile operator was eyeing either Virgin Media parent Liberty Global or TalkTalk.

The rumours emerged after fixed-line incumbent BT admitted it is in early talks to acquire one of either O2 or EE, Voda's major rival mobile operators.

Vodafone was previously linked with a move for Liberty Global in September, but the parties were understood to have had wildly different expectations regarding price.

Furthermore, according to a report by the Telegraph on Wednesday, Colao told major shareholders earlier this week that Vodafone would look at acquiring Liberty's German business but said that many of its other assets were not relevant to his company.

Liberty Global is headquartered in the U.S. but it operating units are in Latin America and Europe, where it owns cable companies in a dozen countries. There are seven markets where Liberty and Vodafone overlap: the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, the Netherlands, Romania and the U.K., where it owns Virgin Media.