Nikkei $1.3 Billion FT Bid Too Much, Axel Springer CEO Says

Axel Springer SE would have “loved” to buy the Financial Times, but the $1.3 billion Nikkei Inc. paid for the salmon-hued paper was too much for the German media group, according to Chief Executive Officer Mathias Doepfner.

“It would have fit very well, but at the end it was too expensive and therefore we decided to be disciplined and not to do it,” Doepfner said on a conference call with analysts on Tuesday.