PW: Bertelsmann in Stock Buyback

Bertelsmann is in the process of buying out a junior partner that held nearly 11% of its shares for the past 27 years. The investor was Gerd Bucerius, publisher of Die Zeit, Germany's leading political and cultural weekly; since Bucerius's death in 1995, his 10.74% of voting rights and equity have been held in the name of the Zeit Foundation. The buyback began in the closing weeks of 1999 and will be completed in 2005.

On completion of the buyback, the ownership of Bertelsmann will be divided between the Bertelsmann Foundation (76.9%) and the Mohn family (23.1%), although this will not reflect voting rights, which last July were transferred by principal owner Reinhard Mohn to a new corporate entity.