Metro is in exclusive talks to promote its Real hypermarkets to a consortium led by way of real property investor Redos, the German retailer said on Wednesday, adding it became taking a 385 million euro ($431 million) impairment rate on the loss-making chain.
The announcement by using Metro, the evening earlier than it reviews second-zone outcomes, confirms an earlier document via Reuters that helped Metro’s shares close up 1.7 percentage.
Once a sprawling retail conglomerate, Metro has been restructuring in current years to attention on its middle cash-and-deliver enterprise, selling Kaufhof department shops and then splitting from patron electronics group Ceconomy.
It has lengthy sought to shed its Real hypermarkets chain, which has annual sales of greater than 7 billion euros ($7.8 billion) but has struggled for years in a fiercely competitive German market, dominated with the aid of discounters Aldi and Lidl.
Metro stated the exclusivity lasted until the end of July, with negotiations predicted to be finished inside the summer time and anti-believe approval wanted for a very last deal.
The events have agreed a framework underneath which Real would be offered as an entire to Redos, with Metro initially retaining a 24.9 percent stake in the operating commercial enterprise and a ‘placed’ choice to sell that preserving which could be exercised after three years.
The liabilities of the suffering chain will be assumed via the brand new owner, resulting in a preliminary coins inflow of around 500 million euros to Metro, with Redos making plans to make “extensive” investments, while additionally selling a few Real shops.
Metro said the modern popularity of negotiations could result in it taking a 385 million euro impairment in its first-half financial assertion.
People near the matter said last month the consortium comprising Redos, ECE and Morgan Stanley Real Estate had dropped out of the public sale for Real.
But talks were taken up once more after key hurdles have been resolved, one source near the matter said on Wednesday.
Another stated Redos did no longer have a companion in the retail industry and planned to paintings with current Real control.
Talks with a different consortium led through property investor X+Bricks, which had in advance been seen as frontrunner to comfy a deal, were placed on keep, the sources brought.
A essential task in the sales manner has been for buyers to outline a future strategy for Real’s 279 web sites, kind of sixty five of which are owned through Metro itself.
While suitors had been keen on obtaining the belongings on the way to letting the actual property to new tenants, interest in taking on the loss-making working corporation has been scant.
People close to the problem have stated Real’s suitors have in recent weeks been in talks with different retail companies over a sale of individual websites after a deal for Real.
The buyer can even ought to cope with unions about ways to safeguard as many of the 34,000 jobs as feasible. Labour representatives had been vocal critics of plans to break up the assets from the working commercial enterprise.
Analysts anticipate Metro’s second-zone profits to droop, dragged down an ailing Russian enterprise.