Deutsche Bank has taken full control of the 40% stake in the German publisher Axel Springer which used to belong to the bankrupt Kirch media empire.

One option is to sell the stake to a strategic investor. The talks with Ringier continue

Edda Fels Springer

The bank first obtained the Axel Springer stake as security for a 720m euro (�452m; $704m) loan that Kirch could not repay.

When Deutsche Bank tried to auction the stake there were no bidders, so it bought the shares itself for 667m euros.

Deutsche Bank intends to sell all of the Springer shares, with one possible buyer being the Swiss publisher Ringier.

It said it had already started talks with Friede Springer, the publishing group's main shareholder, about selling her a 10% stake.

Axel Springer is Germany's biggest newspaper group with titles including Bild and Die Welt.

'A sense of relief'

Springer said it was happy with the bank's acquisition and would be discussing the options for the stake.

"One option is to sell the stake to a strategic investor. The talks with Ringier continue," said Springer's spokeswoman Edda Fels.

"If that doesn't lead to a positive result, there is still the option to float the shares on the stock market," she said.

The forced sale of the stake ends almost 20 years of squabbling between media mogul Leo Kirch and the Springer family.

This culminated in an acrimonious row after the publisher played a key role in Kirch's collapse earlier this year.

"You'll understand that after all the obstructions in the past weeks and months, there is a certain sense of relief," said Ms Fels.