Hogan Lovells advises DWS Group on investment in Deutsche GigaNetz

Hogan Lovells advises DWS Group on investment in Deutsche GigaNetz

The transaction is subject to customary approval of the European Commission

Global law firm Hogan Lovells has advised the Pan-European Infrastructure III fund of DWS Group on a major investment in German fiber-optic business Deutsche GigaNetz.

Led by Hogan Lovells Frankfurt-based partners Alexander Stefan Rieger and Joerg Herwig, DWS is the second major investor in Deutsche alongside InfraRed Capital Partners.

The investment aims at increasing the capabilities of Deutsche to deliver on and grow beyond its initial €3 billion business plan with the ambition to connect more than one million households with fibre-to-the-home (FttH) and to drive digitalization in Germany.

The founders as well as the current main investor InfraRed will remain as shareholders.

Rieger, the relationship partner for the infrastructure funds, commented, "Advising DWS on another successful and particularly complex transaction underlines our strong capability to deliver at the niche interface between infrastructure and corporate law matters."

While Hogan Lovells advised DWS on all transactional legal aspects, DC Advisory acted as a financial advisor, and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton advised on regulatory approval.

The Hogan Lovells team comprised Dr Alexander Stefan Rieger (Partner), Johannes Gross (Senior Associate), Camilla Froehlich, Dr Joscha Mueller, Julian Schmidt, Pascal Wagenfuehr (Associates), Janina Fey (Trainee Solicitor) (all Infrastructure M&A, Frankfurt).

Others included Dr Joerg Herwig (Partner), Alexandra Willm (Senior Associate), Jennifer Hofmann (Associate) (all Private Equity, Frankfurt); Dr Kerstin Neighbour (Partner), Dr Charlotte Baecker (Associate) (both Employment, Frankfurt); Prof Dr Fabian Pfuhl (Counsel), Anne Schmitt (Senior Associate) (both Intellectual Property, Frankfurt); Judith Altenburg (Associate, Real Estate, Frankfurt).

The team also comprised Dr Carla Luh (Partner), Marco Weibrecht (Senior Associate), Kathy Chang (Associate) (all Infrastructure, Energy, Resources and Projects/Finance, Hamburg); and Dr Thomas Frank (Senior Associate, Pensions, Munich).