Food
Now that top executive Olaf Koch has announced his departure, Czech investor Daniel Kretinsky is making a fresh attempt to get his hands on the German foodservice company Metro.
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Olaf Koch, CEO of German retailer Metro, is resigning at the end of the year. As he will not complete his current term that only ends in 2022, the German retail giant will have to quickly start looking for a successor.
German wholesaler Metro has been approached by American catering multinational Sysco about a takeover. The Americans want to buy Metro in order to continue their European expansion.
Investment group SCP (from Luxembourg, but with Russian backers) has acquired Metro's ailing hypermarket chain Real. The German chain is to be cut in pieces, 10,000 jobs are threatened.
General
German retail giant Metro has finally reached an agreement with the consortium of property investor X+Bricks on the sale of its Real hypermarkets. The deal is causing unrest among the staff.
What does Daniel Kretinsky have in mind for Casino and Metro? The unruly Czech investor, with a penchant for sectors 'on their way back', has set his sights on the European hypermarket sector, but what are his intentions?
Beisheim and Meridian, two major shareholders of Metro, have increased their stakes in the German group to just over 23 %. They also want to buy more shares in the future - possibly hoping to frustrate rival stakeholder Daniel Kretinsky?
Vesa Equity Investment, Daniel Kretinsky's investment fund, has increased its stake in French retailer Casino to above the 5 % threshold. Analysts now wonder of the Metro owner might be aiming for further consolidation.
German wholesaler Metro has exceeded expectations in its latest quarter. Western-European growth was 0.5 %, total turnover increased 2.2 %.
The German Metro group has posted encouraging results in the past year: its Chinese operations have been sold, Real also found a buyer and like-for-like sales have increased by 2.4 %, the strongest growth in a decade.
The ongoing efforts of the consortium surrounding real estate investor X+Bricks to win over Metro's Real chain appear to be bearing fruit. The German wholesaler has confirmed that it has started exclusive negotiations with the consortium, to be completed by the end of January.
Property investor X+Bricks has increased its bid on German retail chain Real, but its owner Metro maintains that it rather hopes to reach an agreement with Redos.
Last year, Belgian supermarket group Delhaize became the largest distributor in Serbia. The chain is staving off Metro, Lidl and a number of local competitors.
EP Global Commerce, the investment company of Daniel Kretinsky and Patrik Tkac, is increasing its stake in the German Metro group to just under 30 %. The Czech businessman will therefore become its largest shareholder.
The German Metro group published positive quarterly results, especially in Eastern Europe and Asia. Thanks to recovery in Western Europe, the company is performing in line with expectations.
Makro's Belgian cash & carry stores have been able to 'almost' stabilise their turnover in the past financial year, after figures had been falling by 10 % and more for many years. However, a break-even is not yet in sight for the Metro subsidiary.
