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Transfer of power in the media group: Friede Springer leaves Mathias Döpfner large parts of her share manager magazin company

2020-09-24T16:03:17.870Z


The publisher is giving her CEO a large part of her shares - and leaving him with her remaining voting rights. Döpfner is the new strong man in the parent company of "Bild" and "Welt".


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 "I'm 78 years old. Now is exactly the right time to take this step."

- Friede Springer and her CEO Mathias Döpfner (2.02 meters).

Photo: dpa picture alliance / Frederic Kern / Geisler-Fotopress / picture alliance / Geisler-Fotop

Media manager

Mathias Döpfner

(57) will finally become the strong man in the Axel Springer Group and de facto successor to

Friede Springer

(78).

The major shareholder is giving her long-standing CEO a large part of her shares in the media group ("Bild", "Welt") and also transferring the voting rights from her remaining block of shares to him.

"I am very happy to have found my successor in Mathias," she said in an interview with the dpa news agency.

Döpfner has been at the helm of the group since 2002.

In the meantime he was considered one of the best-paid German managers.

So far he holds a good 3 percent of the shares.

Now Döpfner is buying an additional 4.1 percent of the shares from Springer's possession.

At a price of € 62.42 per share (the dividend for 2019 has already been priced in in favor of the manager), he will have to pay around € 276 million.

In business circles it is said that Döpfner is financing the transaction with a new bank loan.

"Axel Springer is my life. I always wanted the restless sleep of the entrepreneur and never just to be a manager," he said.

"For this reason, I bought a block of shares back in 2006, and for this I got heavily in debt. Now my wish is to invest even more."

He will also receive around 15 percent of the shares as a gift from Friede Springer.

Projected, this package corresponds to a value of around one billion euros.

A gift of this magnitude to a beneficiary outside the family is extremely unusual, especially in a large corporation.

Döpfner thus rises into the ranks of German billionaires.

After the deal, Springer holds 23.52 percent of the Group's shares;

Döpfner 21.92 percent.

"I will stay on the Supervisory Board and the Shareholders' Committee. I just want to be sure that if something happens to me, I know that our publishing house is in the right hands with Mathias," explained Springer.

With the money, it also provides the non-profit Friede Springer Foundation with further substantial assets.

According to the company, Springer wants to use the additional capital to focus more on health and science in the future.

Springer, one of the largest media groups in Europe, has invested heavily in digital offerings in the past.

Last year the group entered into a strategic partnership with the US financial investor Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR).

KKR is a major shareholder, but does not hold the majority with 47.6 percent of the shares.

The remaining shares are held by the founder's grandchildren.

Friede Springer also has separate veto rights.

The group aims to become the global market leader in digital journalism and digital classifieds such as job or real estate portals.

Springer also withdrew from the stock exchange this year after 35 years.

The Group's turnover in 2019 was 3.11 billion euros and the adjusted net income was 263.7 million euros.

lhy / phal / dpa

Source: spiegel

All news articles on 2020-09-24

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