German media empire Axel Springer to split in deal with KKR

German media empire Axel Springer will be split in two under a deal between CEO Mathias Doepfner and private equity firm, the company said on Thursday, securing the billionaire chief executive’s control over news titles Bild and Politico.

Axel Springer’s profitable classifieds businesses are to become separately held entities under U.S. firm KKR and Canada’s CPP Investments majority ownership, the German media group said in a statement.

The two sides had reached a deal in the summer to split Axel Springer, a source told Reuters on Saturday.

The statement did not give a valuation of the company.

Sources told Reuters the sides currently value the whole company at 13.5 billion euros ($14.95 billion) with the classifieds business accounting for the lion’s share of it at around 10 billion euros.

That would be around double the value given for the group when KKR entered as a strategic investor five years ago in a deal that preceded Springer’s delisting in 2020.

Axel Springer said a final agreement on the split was expected in the coming months, with the transaction expected to close in the second quarter of next year.

Founded by Axel Springer in 1946 in Hamburg, his eponymous publishing house grew into Germany’s most influential media group, with its right-wing, red-bannered tabloid Bild ranking as the country’s most-read newspaper by far with a daily circulation of just under 1 million at the end of 2023.

Today, the media company has its sights set on expansion in North America, having bought political news outlet Politico for $1 billion in 2021, and is seeking to expand its influence there.

The deal to split Springer would hand the group’s media assets to Doepfner and members of the Springer family, including the 82-year-old Friede Springer, Axel’s widow, who consolidated control over the business after his death in 1985, before gradually transferring power to her anointed successor Doepfner.

KKR and its partner CPP Investments currently hold a 35.6% and 12.9% stake in Axel Springer, respectively, while Doepfner and Friede Springer hold 21.9% and 22.5%.

The planned split foresees KKR and CPP Investments owning the majority of classifieds, which include job portal Stepstone and property website Aviv, while Doepfner and Springer would retain a minority stake.

Axel Springer had been preparing to float Stepstone but the planned initial public offering was shelved when war broke out in Ukraine in 2022.

KKR and CPP Investments are now likely to target an IPO in the second half of 2025, according to an industry source.

Aviv is also seen as a potential candidate for an IPO but sources say the company is not yet ready.