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Reuters
Published
May 16, 2011
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Metro CEO says Karstadt tie-up off the table

By
Reuters
Published
May 16, 2011

May 15 - German retailer Metro AG has given up persuading the owner of department-store rival Karstadt to merge the business with Metro's Kaufhof unit, the head of Metro told magazine Der Spiegel.

KarstadtQuelle, Metro
Eckhard Cordes, chairman of the Metro Group

"We always believed that combining parts of both department-store companies would make sense. The other side appears to have different views. That's why it's no longer an issue for us," Metro's Chief Executive Eckhard Cordes told the magazine in an interview published on Sunday.

"Kaufhof is successfully going its own way. We don't need Karstadt," he added.

Karstadt was sold to billionaire Nicolas Berggruen last year in the wake of the collapse of its former parent, retail conglomerate Arcandor.

Metro had pursued a combination of the two department-store chains since Arcandor folded in 2009 and the head of Metro's Kaufhof unit Lovro Mandac told a newspaper as early as February that a tie-up with Karstadt would be the best option.
(Reporting by Ludwig Burger; Editing by David Holmes)

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