METRO Completes Sale of Real, Moves Toward Becoming a Purely Wholesale Company
DUESSELDORF, GERMANY - METRO AG is donning a new hat by becoming a fully-focused wholesale company. This transformation arrives in light of a recent sale, in which the grocer completed the divestment of its hypermarket chain Real to SCP Group.
“I would like to thank all Real employees for the joint journey within the METRO family, peaking in outstanding performance in recent weeks during the corona crisis,” said Olaf Koch, CEO of METRO AG. “We have completed the transaction as planned. The sale of this retail business concludes a long series of divestments, successfully transforming METRO into a fully focused wholesale company.”
According to a press release, METRO will now benefit from net cash inflow of €0.3 billion ($0.3 billion USD), which, together with the €1.5 billion ($1.686 USD) net cash inflow from the METRO China majority sale, has generated around €1.9 billion ($2.135 billion USD) in net cash inflow.
“We started this journey to maximize our growth and earnings potential. We have made a lot of progress but are equally excited to capture the additional opportunities that lie ahead of us,” Koch continued. “Besides our strengthened strategic focus as a pure wholesaler, we also benefit from a solid liquidity position, a robust financial structure, and the flexibility to invest in our growth and consolidate our position in key markets.”
As part of the deal SCP Group will become the sole owner of Real’s stationery retail business. This will include the entire real estate portfolio, as well as six outstanding properties, and 34,000 Real employees.
Real’s digital business, including the online marketplace real.de, was acquired last week by Lidl parent company Schwarz Gruppe.
Following this divestment, METRO AG will now concentrate on further growing its wholesale business. How will this play out in the global retail market? AndNowUKnow will continue to report.
