Herbert Smith Freehills has advised InfraVia Capital Partners on the creation of a joint venture with Liberty Global Ventures to set up fibre-to-the-home in Germany

Leading international law firm Herbert Smith Freehills advised InfraVia Capital Partners, a French private equity firm specialised in infrastructure and technology investments, on the creation of a 50/50 joint venture with Liberty Global Ventures, the investment arm of Liberty Global, one of the world's leading converged video, broadband and communications companies, to set up fibre-to-the-home networks in Germany.

Joint venture Liberty Networks Germany is subject to regulatory approval and will take a modular approach, with the first phase targeting a small number of municipalities in Germany. If specifically defined success criteria are met during the first phase, it will open up further investment opportunities for the joint venture.

Herbert Smith Freehills has advised InfraVia Capital Partners with a team composed of partner Edouard Thomas and associate Noémie Laurin on corporate aspects; partner Christophe Lefort and of counsel Paul Morton on project aspects; partner Sergio Sorinas and of counsel Marie Louvet regarding competition issues; partner Bruno Knadjian and associate Sylvain Piémont on tax matters; and senior associate Heather Newton from the London office on IP/TMT aspects. Partners Sönke Becker and Steffen C. Hörner, and of counsel Lena von Richthofen also advised InfraVia Capital Partners on German law aspects.