German billionaire Mathias Döpfner and KKR are near reaching an agreement to separate up media giant Axel Springer, the Financial Times reports.
Both sides are expected to debate the proposed structure of a deal that might give KKR majority control of the corporate’s profitable classifieds business at a board meeting on Thursday, the FT reported, citing 4 unnamed people accustomed to the matter.
The entire company is valued at 13.5 billion euros ($15 billion), including greater than 10 billion euros for the classifieds business, the FT reported. Two of the people told the FT that the deal had been discussed several times at previous board meetings.
A deal would allow Döpfner, who has been CEO since 2002, to consolidate his control over the group’s media, the FT said. These include the US news sites Politico and Business Insider, in addition to the German tabloid Bild and its sister paper Die Welt.
Axel Springer and KKR declined to comment to the FT.
