The Italian operator spends €485 million on the wholesale fixed wireless access provider
CK Hutchison-owned WindTre has acquired the network assets and spectrum of fixed wireless access operator Opnet, formerly known as Linkem. The deal could lead to further network asset rationalisation given WindTre itself signed a deal with Sweden’s EQT Infrastructure to sell 60% of its network for around €3.4 billion. That deal’s deadline is 12 February, although there is speculation the date will slide.
As part of the Opnet deal. WindTre will get the “relevant business unit, with the exclusion of Tessellis (the former Tiscali of which Opnet is a…shareholder),” according to Opnet’s website. More importantly, WindTre gets 20MHz in the 5G 3.6-3.8GHz band and 200MHz in the 26.5-27.5GHz band. To demonstrate what a bargain the current price was, Opnet pointed out WindTre paid more than €516 million for frequencies in the 3.7 GHz and 26 GHz bands in Italy’s 2018 spectrum auctions. Opnet’s network covers more than 70% of the population.
According to Il Sole 24 Ore, reporting a leaked internal memo, the acquisition “is part of WindTre’s strategy aimed at optimising and developing the network infrastructure also as an enabling factor for the country’s digital transformation.”
Previous owner Jefferies Financial Group, which delivered tepid Q4 results in January, said it was ditching “legacy assets” to refocus on investment banking. It added that the €485m deal will “consist of cash in an amount sufficient to satisfy all of Opnet’s financial debt, transaction costs and other cash obligations” and around €225 million will be paid in cash or bonds.
“Opnet will retain majority ownership in other operating telecom companies, resulting in approximately €320 million in final value to Jefferies from this transaction, which exceeds our current carrying value,” it said in a statement. The sale is subject to regulatory approvals and is anticipated to close in the second or third quarter of 2024.
Towers at play
Founded in 2001 by the entrepreneur Davide Rota, the Company operated in the market as Linkem until September 2022 to then change the company name to Opnet following the corporate spin-off of the retail branch and its merger by incorporation into Tiscali, now Tessellis. As a result of the complex transaction, completed in July 2022, Opnet became the majority shareholder of Tessellis with 56.12% of the shares. Opnet offers a range of connectivity services including: 5G private network, point-to-point and UBB solutions, wireless and also wired, with service profiles for consumer, SOHO, business, enterprise and verticals markets.
According to CorCom, speaking to analysts Intermonte, the deal could impact Opnet’s towerco Inwit because with WindTre looking for network efficiences as it continues EQT negotiations, it could transfer Opnet’s sites over to its own towerco Cellnex. During 2023 Linkem invested very little in new coverage and continued to lose market share, according to the analysts.