Axel Springer SE: Changes to the Supervisory Board

Following KKR's strategic investment in Axel Springer SE, the company has today announced changes to its Supervisory Board. Johannes Huth, 59, Member and Head of KKR EMEA, Philipp Freise, 46, Member and Co-Head of EMEA Private Equity at KKR, and Franziska Kayser, 32, Director in Private Equity at KKR with a focus on technology, media and telecommunications (TMT), have been appointed to the Supervisory Board.

As a consequence, the Supervisory Board is again complete with nine members. Dr. Alexander Karp, 52, Co-Founder and CEO of Palantir Technologies, Iris Knobloch, 56, Président-Directeur Géneral of Warner Bros. France S.A., and Dr. Nicola Leibinger-Kammüller, 60, Managing Partner and CEO of TRUMPF GmbH + Co. KG, resigned their positions on Axel Springer's Supervisory Board on 31 December 2019.

Axel Springer's Supervisory Board now consists of the following members: Ralph Büchi (Chairman), 62, Dr. h.c. Friede Springer (deputy Chairwoman), 77, Philipp Freise, Oliver Heine, 57, Johannes Huth, Franziska Kayser, Ulrich Plett, 62, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Wolfgang Reitzle, 70, and Martin Varsavsky, 59.

Ralph Büchi, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Axel Springer SE, said: 'We welcome the new representatives of KKR to Axel Springer's Supervisory Board. Their cooperation ensures that we can benefit from their experiences and expertise. My heartfelt thanks go to those colleagues who have resigned their positions for their valuable contributions and the numerous impulses. Together we were able to realize significant strategic milestones for Axel Springer.'

Dr. Alexander Karp has meanwhile become a member of the shareholder committee which was formed as part of the agreement between the major shareholders. Chairman of the shareholder committee is Dr. Mathias Döpfner, 56, CEO of Axel Springer SE. Deputy Chairman is Johannes Huth. Further members of the committee are Friede Springer, Henry Kravis, 76, Co-Founder, Co-Chairman and Co-CEO of KKR, and Philipp Freise.