Deutsche Bank will next week auction off a 40% stake in Axel Springer which publishes the prominent German newspapers, Bild and Die Welt.
This development has set pulses racing at Ringier, the Swiss publisher, which is in merger talks with Springer and could now make a bid for the stake. Meanwhile, media reports suggest that Kirch is considering an insolvency filing for the unit that holds the Springer shares in order to stop the auction going ahead.