Politico owner Axel Springer has reached an agreement with its top shareholder KKR to separate its portfolio of media assets from its fast-growing classified advertisements business.

The deal values all of Axel Springer at roughly $15 billion, with the company’s publishing assets worth about $4 billion.

German media empire Axel Springer will be split in two under a deal between CEO Mathias Doepfner and private equity firm KKR, the company said on Thursday, securing the billionaire chief executive's control over news titles Bild and Politico.

Politico owner Axel Springer and private equity group KKR have agreed a €13.5bn deal to break up the company, splitting the profitable classifieds business from its media group. The plan, first reported by the Financial Times in July,

KKR & Co. and German billionaire Mathias Döpfner agreed to split up media conglomerate Axel Springer, separating its fast-growing classifieds units from its news businesses.

Private equity firm KKR and German billionaire Mathias Döpfner have struck a deal to separate Axel Springer's classifieds business from its media properties, the firms announced Thursday morning. Why it matters: KKR will officially exit the media business it helped fund and expand over the past five years.