Italian network operator Wind Tre has acquired the assets of wholesale fixed wireless access (FWA) provider OpNet.

In a statement announcing the deal, OpNet confirmed that Wind Tre has acquired 100 percent of the company, which was formerly known as Linkem.

A separate announcement from investment banking and capital markets firm Jefferies Financial Group Inc., the major shareholder in the company, said the sale is worth €485 million ($520m).

The deal doesn't include Tessellis SpA (of which Opnet is a 59.26 percent shareholder).

The deal remains subject to government and regulatory approvals, but is expected to be finalized in the "coming months."

"The acquisition is part of OpNet’s strategy to enhance its assets and the dynamic business model that distinguishes it," said OpNet.

As part of the acquisition, Wind Tre will expand its spectrum portfolio for 5G, with 20 MHz in the 3.6-3.8 GHz band and 200 MHz in the 26.5-millimeter band to 27.5 GHz.

OpNet was founded in 2001 by the entrepreneur Davide Rota, originally operating as Linkem until September 2022. The company changed its name following the corporate spin-off of the retail branch and its recent merger into Tiscali (now known as Tessellis).

The Wind Tre operation is the result of a history of mobile mergers. Italian mobile operator Andala was launched in 1999 and then acquired by what was then Hutchison Whampoa and renamed H3G/Three Italy in 2000. Meanwhile, Wind was established in late 1997 by Enel, France Télécom (now Orange), and Deutsche Telekom and sold in 2005 to Weather Investments and then Veon in 2011. CK Hutchison then acquired part of Wind in 2016 and renamed it Wind Tre, before acquiring the entire company in 2018.

Wind Tre agreed to sell a majority stake in its telecoms network to Sweden's EQT Infrastructure last year.

The agreement valued the business at $3.74 billion, including debt, with EQT taking a 60 percent stake.