As a result, Franz Burda Jr and Frieder Burda were able to increase their equity into a blocking minority. In 1988, they suddenly sold their shares again to the heirs of Axel Springer, having sought a majority in Axel Springer alongside Leo Kirch; Hubert Burda challenged the legality of the transaction, asserting a preemptory right of purchase for the Springer shares. He lost the subsequent court case. Development into a media group At the time of the legal dispute with his brothers, revenues at Hubert Burda's publishing house went into decline before improving at the end of the 1980s, particularly after the circulation of “Bunte" rallied again. Further growth came after expansion to the east: In 1987, "Burda Moden" was the first Western magazine sold in the Soviet Union. After German Reunification, Burda initiated "Superillu" in cooperation with Gong Verlag. It was conceived as "integration and lifestyle assistance as East and West grow together" and became one of the best-selling magazines in the new German states. By contrast, the East German tabloid, "Super!", launched in 1992, was a failure. In order to compensate for the losses incurred, Burda was obliged to sell the headquarters at Arabellapark. Further success came with the launch of "Focus." Established in 1993 by Hubert Burda and Helmut Markwort, the magazine had 15,000 subscribers after five editions and reached a circulation of 300,000 sold copies. Its advertising revenues would go on to surpass "Der Spiegel". "Focus" was key to the development of the Burda publishing house into a media corporation. With the retirement of Aenne Burda in 1994, Hubert Burda purchased all the shares of the remaining family members and thus became the sole owner of the publishing house. It was integrated into the Group but remained largely independent. At the turn of the year 1994/1995, Burda consolidated its radio and TV shares and integrated them into the current profit centre structure. The Group also took on a greater international focus by establishing foreign subsidiaries. Investments in digital activities From 1995, Burda increased its investment in digital business models, creating a separate division for the purpose. As one of its first steps, the new division took a stake in Europa Online, a Luxembourg online service. "Focus Online" was launched in 1996, representing the first editorial news service from Burda, and additional such websites followed. Europa Online proved to be unsuccessful, but Burda continued its expansion on