Dentons advises ruhrfibre/metrofibre on distressed sale of fiber-optic infrastructure to Telekom

Berlin-Global law firm Dentons advised ruhrfibre and metrofibre on the sale of their fiber-optic infrastructure to Telekom Deutschland GmbH as part of an asset deal. As part of the transaction, Telekom is acquiring the existing fiber-optic network, which serves approximately 87,000 households.

On May 26, 2026, ruhrfibre Essen Netz GmbH & Co. KG, ruhrfibre Essen GmbH, and metrofibre GmbH filed petitions for self-administration with the Düsseldorf Local Court and appointed Dentons Restructuring partners Dirk Schoene and Judith Schmid as general authorized representatives. Dr. David Georg of the law firm KebekusPartner Rechtsanwälte was appointed as the administrator.

As part of the self-administration proceedings, the companies had been searching for a buyer for the fiber-optic network. With the now-agreed sale of the infrastructure, a viable solution has been found for the ruhrfibre fiber-optic network in Essen as well as for the network expansion in Düsseldorf that has just begun. Telekom plans to technically adapt the acquired infrastructure to its own network architecture and integrate it into its ongoing fiber-optic network expansion.

The Dentons team, led by partners Dirk Schoene and Judith Schmid, provided comprehensive advice on both the self-administration and the sale process.

Advisors

Dentons (Berlin/Frankfurt):

Restructuring and M&A: Dirk Schoene (Partner, Co-Lead), Judith Schmid (Partner, Co-Lead), Jennifer Brenke (Counsel), Christian Stracke (Associate), Viktor Behrendt (Associate, all in Berlin)

Employment: Dr. Wiebke Schultz (Partner, Frankfurt)

Tax: Hauke Thieme (Partner, Berlin)

Trustee: KebekusPartner Rechtsanwälte: Dr. David Georg (Trustee)

M&A Advisors: Livingstone Partners: Sebastian Engelbrecht (Associate Partner), Domagoj Vrdoljak (Analyst)

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