US investment company KKR is to sell its German fibre internet business to the Swedish private equity firm EQT and Canadian pension fund Omers.
The deal values the company at about €2.8 billion. EQT will own 51% and Omer the rest.
The Dutch investment company Reggeborgh founded Deutsche Glasfaser in 2011 and will sell its 30% holding to EQT and Omers.
Merger for rural areas
EQT plans to merge Deutsche Glasfaser with Inexio, another German fibre optic network it bought last year.
It is thought that KKR put Deutsche Glasfaser up for sale last year and wanted €3 billion to €4 billion for the company.
The German government is pushing operators to hasten the roll out of fibre infrastructure in Germany, which has one of the lowest penetrations of fibre in Europe.
As part of a pilot scheme launched in January, Deutsche Telekom is using Deutsche Glasfaser’s fibre network in Lüdinghausen where Deutsche Glasfaser has laid more than 9,000 fibre-optic lines.
Commentators say the Deutsche Glasfaser will give EQT a significant presence in rural areas.
The group will sell direct to consumers and other broadband providers.
Last year Omers bought Covage, a French fibre wholesale operator that aims to supply fibre connections to 8 million households in France.