BERLIN, Sept 19 (Askume) – German media empire Axel Springer said on Thursday that Chief Executive Officer Matthias Doepfner and private equity firm KKR (KKR.N) would join forces in a deal that would see the billionaire chief executive ousted. from Bild .
Axel Springer’s profitable classifieds business will now become a separate entity, majority-owned by US firm KKR and Canada’s CPP Investments, the media group said in a statement.
An agreement had been reached to split from Axel Springer in the summer , a source told Askume on Saturday .
The company’s valuation was not given in the statement.
The parties currently value the entire company at 13.5 billion euros ($15 billion), while the classified advertising business is valued at about 10 billion euros, sources told Askume.
This is nearly double the valuation that KKR gave the group five years ago when it joined as a strategic investor, in a deal that preceded the delisting of Axel Springer in 2020.
Axel Springer said it expects to reach a final agreement on the divestment in the coming months, with the transaction expected to be completed in the second quarter of next year.
Founded in Hamburg in 1946 by businessman Axel Springer, the publishing house has become Germany’s most influential media group, with its right-wing red-flag tabloid Bild being by far the country’s most influential media group, with a daily circulation of around one million copies at the end of 2023. It is a widely read newspaper.
Today, the media company aims toExpand its influence in North America and acquire political news media Politico for $1 billion in 2021 .
IPO Candidates
As part of the Axel Springer demerger deal, the group’s media assets were handed over to members of the Doepfner and Springer families, including Axel Springer’s widow, 82-year-old Friede Springer, who had consolidated control of the business after his death in 1985.
KKR and its partner CPP Investments currently hold 35.6% and 12.9% stakes in Axel Springer, respectively, while Doepfner and Friede Springer hold 21.9% and 22.5%.
Döpfner said in a letter to employees that Axel Springer would become a minority shareholder in the classifieds business, which includes job portal Stepstone and real estate website Aviv, and would receive “probably around 15%” of shares in exchange for the media assets.
The ideal scenario for Doepfner and Friede Springer, the CEOs wrote, is for KKR and CPP to “either sell the majority of the classifieds business through an IPO or take control of it and in return we will own the entire media business,” with a minority stake.
Axel Springer originally planned to launch StepStone, butThe planned initial public offering (IPO) was delayed due to the outbreak of war in Ukraine in 2022 .
According to industry sources, KKR and CPP are currently targeting an IPO in the second half of 2025.
Aviv has also been seen as a potential candidate for an IPO, but sources said the company is not ready yet.
