Axel Springer top team close to making 8 times their money in KKR deal

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Axel Springer’s senior executives are close to receiving bumper payouts as part of the planned break-up the German media giant agreed with buyout firm KKR.

The group valuation underpinning the preliminary agreement is nearing the €13.6bn threshold in the management incentive package that triggers a generous payout, according to a company presentation seen by the FT.

If this level is reached, more than 100 top managers would receive 8.6 times the amount they have invested in the business since 2021, when the current scheme was agreed, according to people familiar with the details.

One of the people described the valuation threshold as the “magic number”.

The planned deal values the media business, which KKR will exit, at €3.5bn, and the classifieds business, which KKR and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) will jointly control, at €10bn, according to people with knowledge of the agreement.

However terms had yet to be finalised, they said. “The final (group) valuation review is not yet complete. It might come back at €13.6bn, €13.7bn or €13.3bn,” one of them said.

New York-based KKR bought a €3bn minority stake in Axel Springer in 2019, a transaction that valued the Berlin-based group headed by billionaire chief executive Mathias Döpfner at €6.8bn. The buyout firm valued the company at €9.4bn at the end of 2022.

Two people familiar with the scheme said they expected the total windfall for senior staff to be at least €100mn.

While such large payouts are a rarity in the traditional media sector, the scale of the reward is emblematic of the generous incentive packages offered by private equity firms to the managers of the companies they back.

The payouts risk triggering anger among more junior staff, particularly in divisions that have experienced job losses and cutbacks in recent years, including the company’s flagship tabloid Bild.

If the break-up deal valued the group at less than €13.6bn, the top managers would still be in line for at least a quadrupling of their money, the people said.

Döpfner and other members of the executive board would not receive their cash immediately, a company spokesman said, adding that their incentive scheme had different terms and a longer-term timeframe. The spokesperson declined to elaborate further.

The planned break up will enable Döpfner, who is also one of Axel Springer’s largest shareholders, to cement control over the media business, which includes German newspapers Bild and Die Welt as well as US news sites Politico and Business Insider.

Axel Springer declined to comment on the size of the overall manager payouts or give further details on executive board rewards.