Schalast has advised LABcom GmbH on the sale of its 50% stake in Lausitzer Mediengruppe to an investment company of Adiuva Capital and N-com GmbH on the contribution of its 50% stake in Lausitzer Mediengruppe combined with a re-investment in the Adiuva investment company.
Prof. Dr. Christoph Schalast led the Schalast team and explains: “The German fiber optic and broadband cable market is again characterized by a consolidation movement and numerous new market entries. With our many years of telecommunications and infrastructure expertise, we are delighted to be able to play an active role as an advisor.”
Lausitzer Mediengruppe is a leading cable network provider in eastern Germany and was founded in 1990 by Bernd Nitzschner as a family owned company. The business areas at that time: Construction and operation of cable networks, electrical installation, civil engineering and local television. In 1996, Heinz-Peter Labonte joined the Lausitzer Mediengruppe as a shareholder with his cable investment company LABcom GmbH as an investor for cable network expansion in eastern Germany.
Today, the Lausitzer Mediengruppe employs more than 70 people in its company. They plan, construct and operate their own and third-party fiber optic, coaxial hybrid networks and broadband radio networks or offer services for them. The number of end customers served by the company and its business partners exceeds 600,000.
The Lausitzer Mediengruppe is divided into several group companies: LKG Lausitzer Kabelbetriebsgesellschaft mbH as the operator of its own TV and IP networks, LKS Lausitzer Kabel Service GmbH as a service provider for network operators and telecommunications customers, Lausitzer Kabelbeteiligungsgesellschaft mbH as the owner and operator of headends and cable networks at network levels 3 and 4, and BGC Breitbandgesellschaft Cottbus mbH as the operator of TV and IP networks in Cottbus and the surrounding area. Other subsidiaries of the Group companies are KNM KabelNetManager GmbH as a software and system provider for network operators, municipal utilities, landlords, administrators and medium-sized companies, Funk und Technik Systemhaus GmbH as a service company for cable network operators, cities, housing cooperatives, housing associations, property developers, companies and private individuals, and Elektronik-Service Brandhorst GmbH as an operator of TV and IP networks for housing cooperatives, housing associations, property developers, companies and landlords.
The acquisition by Adiuva was carried out by means of a holding company, which now functions as the holding company of the Lausitzer Mediengruppe under the name Lausitzer Mediengruppe GmbH. N-com GmbH has re-invested in this holding company. At the same time, a generational change was initiated within the family owned company, with Bernd Nitzschner continuing to be available to the Lausitzer Mediengruppe as a senior advisor and advisory board member, while the next generation, Marco Nitzschner and Daniel Niebuhr became Managing Directors of the holding and all group companies of the Lausitzer Mediengruppe.
For Adiuva, the investment in Lausitzer Mediengruppe offers the opportunity to establish itself in the growth market of fiber optic supply in eastern Germany with a well-positioned family owned company and an outstanding team. As with Adiuva's four previous investments in telecommunications companies, the aim is to pursue market opportunities through flexible growth strategies, be it organic expansion, buy & build or open access.
The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price and the investment amounts.