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Top German news group Springer bids for assets of WAZ newspapers
Sep 30, 2011, 15:56 GMT
Berlin - Axel Springer AG of Germany, one of Europe's biggest news publishers, is bidding for assets of WAZ Medien Gruppe, a family-controlled publisher with newspapers in the west of Germany and eastern Europe, a Springer spokeswoman confirmed Friday.
Manager Magazin, a business weekly, said the bid for the assets would value the complete WAZ group at 1.4 billion euros (1.9 billion dollars).
The spokeswoman said the report was substantially correct, adding that the bid remained subject to due diligence audits as well as regulatory approval from the German Cartel Office.
WAZ publishes daily newspapers in Essen, other populous western cities and in Austria and has radio and television stakes. It invested in Balkan media companies after the collapse of communism.
Berlin-based Axel Springer is the publisher of Germany's biggest-circulation daily, Bild.
Manager Magazin quoted Springer chief executive Mathias Doepfner as saying that he did not rule out a takeover bid but that this would face 'huge obstacles in competition law.'
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