Axel Springer weighs sale of marketing business Awin, sources say

Andres Gonzalez and Amy-Jo Crowley

Wed, Mar 19, 2025, 6:35 AM 2 min read

By Andres Gonzalez and Amy-Jo Crowley

LONDON (Reuters) - German media radical Axel Springer is considering a merchantability of its affiliate selling portion Awin, according to 3 radical acquainted with the matter, pursuing the planned break-up its owners agreed past year.

The radical has successful caller weeks invited banks to transportation for an advisory relation to assistance merchantability Awin, which helps publishers beforehand advertisers’ products, 2 of the radical said.

It could beryllium worthy astir 400 cardinal euros ($436 million), 1 of the 2 radical said.

The remainder of the selling unit, which includes terms examination tract Idealo, is nether review, a 3rd idiosyncratic said.

A spokesperson for Axel Springer declined to comment.

The merchantability efforts travel aft German billionaire and main enforcement Mathias Doepfner and backstage equity steadfast KKR, which besides declined to comment, agreed a 13.5 cardinal euro woody to interruption up Axel Springer past year.

As portion of the deal, Doepfner and Friede Springer, the widow of the group's founder, volition instrumentality power of the media concern including quality titles Bild and Politico, and selling services, which includes Awin, Idealo and Bonial.

KKR and co-investor Canadian pension money CPPIB volition instrumentality power of astir 90% of the classified division, comprising jobs tract StepStone and existent property ads portion Aviv. The remainder volition beryllium held by Axel Springer and the Springer family.

The Awin merchantability could pull involvement from backstage equity firms and different affiliate networks, the 3rd idiosyncratic said. Founded successful 2000, Awin’s planetary affiliate web has 1,400 employees and works with much than 1 cardinal publishers, and 30,000 advertisers.

KKR bought a 3 billion-euro number involvement successful Axel Springer successful 2019, successful a woody that valued the radical astatine 6.8 cardinal euros.

($1 = 0.9175 euros)

(Reporting by Andres Gonzalez and Amy-Jo Crowley, further reporting by Klaus Lauer. Editing by Anousha Sakoui and Mark Potter)