ARQIS advises Deutsches Rotes Kreuz, Kreisverband Offenbach e.V. on the acquisition of Ketteler Krankenhaus in Offenbach

06. May 2026

ARQIS advised Deutsches Rotes Kreuz, Kreisverband Offenbach e.V. on the acquisition of Ketteler Krankenhaus gemeinnützige GmbH (gGmbH) out of insolvency. The acquisition secures both the jobs of more than 900 employees and the hospital’s medical departments in the long term. At the same time, uninterrupted medical care at this key hospital location for the Frankfurt/Offenbach region will be maintained and the site will be integrated into a strong regional healthcare network.

In autumn 2025, Ketteler Krankenhaus initiated court-supervised restructuring proceedings under self-administration. To ensure its continuation, Deutsches Rotes Kreuz, Kreisverband Offenbach e.V. prevailed in an investor process led by WMCF GmbH. The resulting investor agreement provides for Deutsches Rotes Kreuz, Kreisverband Offenbach e.V. to acquire Ketteler Krankenhaus gGmbH as part of an insolvency plan. The insolvency plan is to be filed with the insolvency court in the near future. Closing is expected to take place within the current year and remains subject to the customary conditions of insolvency plan proceedings.

The Ketteler Krankenhaus is part of the healthcare network in the Frankfurt/Offenbach area and has 310 beds. As an academic teaching hospital of Goethe Universität Frankfurt, the facility is integrated into the latest developments in medical research and is known beyond the region, in particular for the Offenbacher DarmCentrum (ODC), certified by the Deutsche Krebsgesellschaft, as well as the Breast Cancer Center.

The hospital will continue to operate as a non-profit organization in the future. The range of services will remain unchanged – with the exception of the previously communicated realignment of the women’s health department. In this context, obstetrics will be discontinued as announced as of June 30, 2026, while all other medical departments will continue operations.

Deutsches Rotes Kreuz, Kreisverband Offenbach e.V. regularly relies on the team headed by Dr. Jörn-Christian Schulze for transaction matters, which has deep market expertise in the healthcare sector. In particular, the team frequently collaborates with the M&A advisor WMCF, which was mandated in the self-administration proceedings. The acquisition of Ketteler Krankenhaus also benefited from the insolvency and restructuring expertise of Johannes Landry.

Advisors to Deutsches Rotes Kreuz, Kreisverband Offenbach e.V.
ARQIS (Dusseldorf): Partners: Johannes Landry (Restructuring & Insolvency), Dr. Jörn-Christian Schulze (Transactions, both lead), Dr. Ulrich Lienhard (Real Estate), Lisa-Marie Niklas (HR Law); Counsel: Malte Griepenburg (Healthcare Law); Managing Associate: Katrin Ludwig (Transactions); Associate: Stella Tönnessen (Healthcare Law)