KKR in talks to acquire minority stake in Axel Springer

The negotiations stipulate that KKR will make a public offer to shareholders of the company to acquire a minority share, according to a statement. Neither Friede Springer, who owns 42.6% of Axel Springer shares, nor chairman and CEO Mathias Döpfner will sell their stakes.

General Atlantic is one minority shareholder in the company with an 8.3% stake.

KKR has recently made several investments in the German media sector in a bid to form an independent German film studio that covers production, licensing and distribution. Acquisitions include production company Wiedemann & Berg Film, audiovisual media group Tele München Gruppe, film distributor Universum Film and production company I&U TV.

Axel Springer has been listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange since 1985. The company owns publications such as Die Welt, Bild and Business Insider.

The company reported revenues of €3.180bn for 2018 and an EBITDA of €737.9m. At the time of publication, the company was trading at €54.40 and had a market capitalisation of €4.87bn.

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• Topics
• PIPEs
• DACH
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• Germany
• KKR
• Minority investing