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German billionaire Mathias Döpfner and KKR are close to reaching a deal to split media giant Axel Springer, a move that would see one of the world’s largest private equity firms exit the media sector after five tumultuous 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 supervisory board meeting on Thursday, according to four people familiar with the matter.
The deal — which values the entire company at 13.5 billion euros, including more than 10 billion euros for the classifieds business — has been discussed multiple times at previous board meetings, two of the people said.
Financial Times first reported The couple discussed splitting up in July.
A deal would allow Döpfner, who has been CEO since 2002, to consolidate his control over the company’s media assets, which include US news sites Politico and Business Insider as well as German tabloid Bild and broadsheet Die Welt.
Döpfner is expected to retain a minority stake in the classifieds division, which includes the jobs platform StepStone and real estate advertising unit Aviv. So will Friede Springer, the company’s vice president and the founder’s widow.
The breakup of Axel Springer will mark a new chapter in a five-year partnership that KKR took the company private in 2019 in a deal that valued the publisher at €6.7 billion. Together with the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), the company owns a 48.5 percent stake in the Berlin-based business.
KKR will gain greater control of the classifieds unit, paving the way for the New York-based company to exit its investment. The firm had hoped to launch an initial public offering for StepStone that would value it at as much as €7 billion, but that plan has been repeatedly postponed following a slump in European listings.
The split would also free KKR and CPPIB from a string of controversies that have plagued Axel Springer’s news business. Including sexual harassment allegations by a former editor of Bild and accusations of editorial interference by Döpfner.
Most recently, KKR has been embroiled in a bitter goods between hedge fund boss Bill Ackman and Business Insider after the newspaper published plagiarism allegations against his wife.
The split comes as Döpfner, 61, who sits on the boards of Netflix and Warner Music Group and has struck up a friendship with Elon Musk, looks to expand his footprint in the English-language media market, particularly in the United States.
He unsuccessfully tried to buy the Financial Times in 2015, instead buying Business Insider later that year. In 2021, he acquired Politico for about $1 billion.
Axel Springer and KKR declined to comment.
