The negotiations allow KKR to launch a public tender offer to other Axel Springer shareholders to buy their shares after KKR has agreed on a consortium with companies held by Friede Springer and Axel Springer Chief Executive Mathias Döpfner, according to a company statement. Döpfner and Friede Springer, who is the widow of the group's founder, do not intend to sell their shares in the company, the statement added. Axel Springer said it is currently open to a public tender offer and investment by KKR, or any other structural steps, adding that legal, tax and financial feasibility is yet to be reviewed by the parties involved.