Two investors had expressed serious interest in buying the FR, the Turkish businessman Burak Akbay with his Estetik Yayincilik media company, and the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung whose bid proved successful. The German Anti-Trush Office approved the takeover on 27 the February. As the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports on its website, "starting 1st March the newspaper will be published by the independent Frankfurter Rundschau GmbH publishing company".

The takeover offer for the editorial department and the printing plant submitted by Estetik (80 employees in the publishing house and 30 in the printing plant were to retain their jobs), was rejected as inadequate by the committee of creditors.

The FAZ is taking over a part of the editorial team, but not the printing plant. Some 230 employees are affected by the printing plant closure. As for the editorial staff who will not join the new company, they can also transfer to an interim employment company.