By Stuart Thomson

Germany’s Deutsche Glasfaser Group has secured new financing to the tuen of €5.75 billion(US$6.5billion) that it says will make a significant contribution to the expansion of its fibre network to four million households in Germany by the end of 2025.

The new capital inclukdes a €3 billion loan, a capex facility for €2.5 billion and a revolving credit line of €250 million. In addition, Deutsche Glasfaser has the prospect of an additional credit line amounting to €1.5 billion.

The financing, which was coordinated by the ING and Crédit Agricole CIB banks, replaces existing loans and brings additional capital into the company, Deutsche Glasfaser said.

Deutsche Glasfaser ultimately wants to pass six million households with FTTH, four million of them in the next four years. The latter number corresponds to around 10 per cent of all households in Germany. Deutsche Glasfaser also offers its network to other interested providers on the basis of wholesale agreements.

The company counts 1.2 million households connected today and plans to double its annual expansion rate from 400,000 households today to around 800,000 in 2025. Deutsche Glasfaser primarily relies on the private sector funding.

“We have shown in the past few years that we can implement our ambitious plan for area-wide fibre optics in rural areas. The capital market is now rewarding that. This financing already ensures that we can continue to pursue this plan in the years to come and allows us to increase the pace of expansion. At the same time, the transaction will improve our financial flexibility,” said CFO of Deutsche Glasfaser, Jens Müller,.