Vitronet expands its corporate group by acquiring Horstmann GmbH

Livingstone advised vitronet GmbH, a portfolio company of the funds advised by Deutsche Beteiligungs AG (DBAG), on the acquisition of Horstmann GmbH, a regional specialist for underground construction with focus on the installation of cable lines. The parties have agreed to not disclose the key points of the transaction.

Horstmann GmbH is a medium-sized, owner-managed company that was founded in Essen in 1978 and is now based in Mülheim an der Ruhr. With approx. 80 employees, Horstmann GmbH covers the complete range of cable line construction services using the latest laying methods and an extensive fleet of vehicles
and machinery. The customer portfolio includes telecommunication providers, energy suppliers, local authorities and commercial enterprises in the segments telecommunication, gas and water. In 2019, Horstmann generated sales of approx. EUR 13 million.

Oliver Horstmann, CEO of Horstmann GmbH: “The merger with vitronet allows us to work together with the entire vitronet corporate group on larger projects across the various types of utilities in the field of line construction. We can now serve our customers even more comprehensively and
drive forward our company growth in the years to come. For our experienced employees, this offers stability in periods of uncertainty as well as the opportunity to acquire additional personnel as an interesting employer”.

The demand for high-performance internet connections and thus the need for fibre optical connections is constantly increasing. However, so far only seven percent of all households in Germany are connected to fibre optical networks – the EU average is three times higher. The vitronet group has already made a significant contribution to the expansion of fibre optical networks in Germany in recent years through the acquisition of various companies in this sector and has established itself as a Germany-wide provider along the entire value chain.

“We already maintain a long history with Oliver Horstmann and Horstmann GmbH and we are pleased that our business partner for the expansion of telecommunication infrastructure has now joined the vitronet group. Good customer relations in the region, qualified employees and knowledge in related areas of line construction complement our business activities perfectly”, adds Marc Lützenkirchen, CEO of the vitronet group. “In this transaction we were once again advised by the Livingstone team led by Christian Grandin, who have accompanied our corporate group in its
external growth for many years and consequently bring along a profound understanding of the industry”.

Christian Grandin, Partner at Livingstone Düsseldorf added: “This has already been the seventh successful transaction we have completed for the vitronet group since 2009, and the sixth transaction for the DBAG telecommunication infrastructure portfolio over the past 9 months. We are looking forward to supporting further transactions in this segment”.