Consolidation in German FTTH market: Unsere Grüne Glasfaser to take over Infrafibre
October 25, 2024 08.25 Europe/London By Jörn Krieger

German FTTH provider Unsere Grüne Glasfaser (UGG) intends to take over its competitor Infrafibre Germany (IFG) with its subsidiaries LEONET, Breitbandversorgung Deutschland (BBV) and Infrafibre Networks.

The agreement for the transaction has now been signed, according to the companies. Financial details were not disclosed.

UGG, a joint venture between Allianz and Telefónica Group, intends to use the acquisition to strengthen its market position on the way to the planned fibre rollout to 2.2 million households in primarily rural areas. According to the company, all current fibre deployment projects of UGG, LEONET and BBV, as well as those already signed with the municipalities in the coming years, will be realised as planned. New projects are to follow at a later date.

The planned takeover underlines the confidence of investors Allianz and Telefónica Group in the German fibre optic infrastructure rollout and in the business model, UGG stressed in a statement. The transaction is subject to approval by the relevant authorities. Completion is expected by the end of 2024 at the latest. Until then, both companies will be managed independently of each other.

Together, UGG and IFG are active in eight federal states across Germany. The companies’ footprint currently covers over one million households, either connected with fibre or in the rollout process. The acquisition of IFG by UGG will create one of the largest fibre optic infrastructure providers in Germany.

“In view of the high demand for digital infrastructures, it is important to efficiently bundle and deploy capacities for fibre optic deployment,” said Jens Prautzsch, CEO of UGG. “We therefore see the planned acquisition of Infrafibre as an important and appropriate step towards achieving our goal of supplying 2.2 million households in Germany with state-of-the-art fibre optics even faster. Together, we will make an even greater contribution to fulfilling the German government’s gigabit targets.”

Jürgen Hansjosten, CEO of Infrafibre, added: “Rural regions in particular urgently need modern IT infrastructures for digital participation and economic development, and there is practically no way around fibre optic technology. This philosophy makes us a very good fit for UGG and we look forward to continuing to fulfil this important task under the umbrella of UGG, supported by its financially strong and long-term investors.”