Vodafone has appointed Margherita Della Valle as its new permanent chief executive to oversee the turnaround of the British telecoms group.

Della Valle, the FTSE 100 company’s finance chief, has served as interim CEO since January when she took over from Nick Read.

The appointment comes at a time when Vodafone is facing questions about its long-term strategy in a market that may finally see further consolidation across Europe.

A number of rival telecoms groups, including Liberty Global and French telecoms tycoon Xavier Niel, have become shareholders in Vodafone, alerting analysts to the possibility of M&A involving the company. e&, based in the United Arab Emirates, increased its stake to 14.6% this week, Reuters reported.

Vodafone is already in talks with Three UK to merge its UK operations, and analysts expect the company to consider options for its German operations.

Della Valle has nearly 30 years of experience working for Vodafone in Italy and the United Kingdom. People familiar with the company’s thinking said she had won over everyone with her vision for broad changes to the organisation. Initial thoughts on a longer-term strategy to restore Vodafone’s growth and simplify the business are expected at the company’s full-year results later this month.