Livingstone advises DING Group on the acquisition of Reinhard Rohrbau GmbH

Livingstone has advised Deutsche Infrastruktur- und Netzgesellschaft mbH (DING Group), a portfolio company of DBAG Expansion Capital Fund (DBAG ECF), on the add-on acquisition of Reinhard Rohrbau GmbH (RRB).

RRB was previously part of the Dutch A.Hak Group, an internationally operating specialist for major pipeline and tubing construction projects, but was no longer part of the group’s core business. RRB, with its headquarters in Meppen and a branch office in Hesse, is a civil engineering company with around 110 employees and focuses on underground pipeline construction. Core competencies include pipeline construction, gas and water networks, district heating, drilling technology, horizontal drilling techniques, telecommunications systems and general cable construction, and extend the service portfolio of the DING Group, especially in pipeline construction. The customer portfolio includes energy suppliers, municipalities and telecommunications providers. The company is active in all trades, from planning to execution and documentation, either independently as a full-service provider or in conjunction with other companies in joint venture large-scale construction projects. In 2019, the group of companies generated sales of around EUR 17 million.

Uwe Burrichter, Managing Director of Reinhard Rohrbau GmbH, commented: “The long-term strategy of the DING Group and its strong group of companies represent a fantastic opportunity for the future development of RRB and our well-trained workforce. The combination of individual development opportunities of each company within the DING Group together with the many national partners offers an excellent development opportunity. I am looking forward to using this advantage in the coming years together with my team, our employees and our customers.”

The demand for high-performance internet connections and thus also the need for fiber optical connections is constantly increasing. However, so far only seven percent of all households in Germany are connected to fiber optical networks – the EU average is three times as high. In recent years, DBAG has already made a significant contribution to the expansion of fiber optical networks in Germany by investing in various companies in this environment. Against this background, Deutsche Beteiligungs AG and DBAG ECF have established Deutsche Infrastruktur- und Netzgesellschaft mbH. With the STG Group, Bochum, Leinberger Bau, Büdingen, Iska Schön, Holzkirchen, the IMD Group, Lehrte-Ahlten, and now the RRB Group in Meppen, DING is now active almost all over Germany as a full-service provider for the planning and construction of broadband infrastructure and extensive municipal and industrial networks.

“With Reinhard Rohrbau, we were able to complete the fifth add-on acquisition for Deutsche Infrastruktur- und Netzgesellschaft within half a year. RRB strengthens our regional presence and simultaneously expands the technological service portfolio of the entire DING Group. We want to keep our growth rate high and expand the fast-growing group of companies with complementary companies into a nationwide market leader in the field of telecommunications and line network construction through further planned acquisitions,” explains Christoph Lüthe, Managing Director of DING.

Christian Grandin, Partner at Livingstone Düsseldorf, added: “We are very pleased that we were once again able to support the DING team led by Christoph Lüthe and Boris Grünke in the implementation of the transaction due to our expertise in this sector. This acquisition is the twelfth transaction in the telecommunications infrastructure sector advised by the Düsseldorf team and the fifth in the first half of 2020.”