Munich, Frank­furt a. Main — Inter­na­tio­nal law firm Clif­ford Chance has advi­sed global finan­cial inves­tor KKR and Regge­borgh on the sale of tele­com­mu­ni­ca­ti­ons company Deut­sche Glas­fa­ser to EQT and OMERS. The tran­sac­tion is expec­ted to close in the second quar­ter of 2020, subject to custo­mary regu­la­tory approvals.

Deut­sche Glas­fa­ser was foun­ded in 2011. In 2015, KKR acqui­red a majo­rity stake from Dutch inves­tor Regge­borgh. With KKR’s invest­ment, Deut­sche Glas­fa­ser has become the fastest growing provi­der of giga­bit Inter­net connec­tions via fiber-to-the-home (“FTTH”) in Germany. With the opera­tio­nal and finan­cial support of KKR, the company inves­ted over EUR 1.2 billion in fiber-optic infra­struc­ture and its roll-out in under­ser­ved rural and subur­ban commu­ni­ties in Germany. For exam­ple, Deut­sche Glas­fa­ser increased the number of fiber-optic connec­tions to more than 600,000 house­holds and 5,000 companies.

Accor­ding to plans by EQT and OMERS, Deut­sche Glas­fa­ser will be merged with EQT port­fo­lio company inexio to form a leading FTTH provi­der in rural Germany. EQT will hold 51 percent of the combi­ned group, while Cana­dian pension fund OMERS will own 49 percent.

Clif­ford Chance had alre­ady advi­sed KKR on its invest­ment in Deut­sche Glas­fa­ser in 2015. In addi­tion, a Clif­ford Chance team had recently advi­sed Deut­sche Glas­fa­ser on a 1.8 billion refi­nan­cing to further expand fiber infra­struc­ture in Germany.

Clif­ford Chance M&A Part­ner Markus Muhs said of the tran­sac­tion: “We are plea­sed to have advi­sed KKR throug­hout its invest­ment in Deut­sche Glas­fa­ser with a strong team of M&A, finan­cing and regu­la­tory experts. In this tran­sac­tion, we were once again able to contri­bute our indus­try exper­tise and many years of expe­ri­ence in the tele­com­mu­ni­ca­ti­ons and tech­no­logy sector.”

The Clif­ford Chance team that advi­sed KKR and Regge­borgh on the sale was led by part­ners Markus Muhs (Munich) and Frede­rik Mühl (Frank­furt, both Corporate/Private Equity/M&A).

About Clif­ford Chance
Clif­ford Chance, one of the world’s leading law firms, is present for its clients with around 3,400 legal advi­sors in all major busi­ness centers around the world. — In Germany, Clif­ford Chance is repre­sen­ted by around 300 lawy­ers, audi­tors, tax advi­sors and soli­ci­tors in Düssel­dorf, Frank­furt am Main and Munich.