Axel Springer and KKR near deal on $13.5bn break-up

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German billionaire Mathias Döpfner and KKR are nearing a deal to split up the media giant Axel Springer, in a move that would allow one of the world’s largest private equity firms to bow out of news media after five turbulent years. 

The two sides are expected to discuss the proposed structure of a deal that would give KKR majority control of the company’s profitable classifieds business at a meeting of its supervisory board on Thursday, according to four people familiar with the matter.

The deal — which values the whole company at €13.5bn, including more than €10bn for the classifieds business — has already been discussed several times at previous board meetings, two of the people said.

The Financial Times first reported the pair were in talks about a split in July.

A deal would enable Döpfner, who has served as CEO since 2002, to cement his control over the company’s media outlets. They include the US news sites Politico and Business Insider as well as the German tabloid Bild and its broadsheet sister Die Welt.

Döpfner is expected to keep a minority stake in the classifieds division, which includes jobs platform StepStone and real estate advertising unit Aviv. So too is Friede Springer, the company’s vice-chair and widow of its founder.

The break-up of Axel Springer would mark a new chapter in a five-year partnership in which KKR took the company private in 2019 in a deal that valued the publisher at €6.7bn. Together with the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), it owns a 48.5 per cent stake in the Berlin-based business.

KKR would gain greater control over the classifieds unit, paving the way for the New York-based firm to exit its investment. It had previously hoped to launch an initial public offering for StepStone, securing a valuation of as much as €7bn, but that plan has been repeatedly postponed after a slump in European listings.

The split would also free KKR and CPPIB from the succession of controversies that have plagued Axel Springer’s news business. These include allegations of sexual harassment by a former editor of Bild and accusations of editorial interference by Döpfner.

Most recently, KKR was dragged into a bitter row between the hedge fund boss Bill Ackman and Business Insider after it published claims of plagiarism against his wife.

The break-up comes as 61-year-old Döpfner, who sits on the boards of Netflix and Warner Music Group and has forged a friendship with Elon Musk, seeks to expand his footprint in the English-language media market, particularly in the US. 

He unsuccessfully tried to buy the Financial Times in 2015, instead buying Business Insider later the same year. In 2021, he acquired Politico for a price tag of around $1bn.

Axel Springer and KKR declined to comment.