Axel Springer and KKR reached fundamental deal in summer, source said

By Klaus Lauer

(Reuters) -German billionaire Mathias Doepfner and KKR reached a fundamental deal in summer to split up the media giant Axel Springer, a source familiar with the situation told Reuters on Saturday.

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 next week, the source said.

The deal values the whole company at 13.5 billion euros ($14.95 billion), including more than 10 billion for the classifieds business, the Financial Times reported on Saturday. The source told Reuters the evaluation is not final yet, but could be around those numbers.

Signing the deal may still take months, but both parties may make an announcement next week, the source said.

Axel Springer declined to comment.

($1 = 0.9029 euros)

(Reporting by Klaus Lauer in Berlin, Nilutpal Timsina in Bengaluru and Maria Martinez in Berlin; Editing by David Gregorio and Louise Heavens)