Metro sells Real stores in Turkey

BERLIN - Reuters

German retailer Metro is selling its 12 Real hypermarkets in Turkey to Ankara-based supermarket chain Hacı Duran Beğendik as it focuses on turning around Real’s struggling business in Germany.

“With this move, Real will fully focus on the successful development of its business in Germany,” Metro said in a statement yesterday, adding it was not disclosing the purchase price of a deal it expects to close in the summer. Real Turkey had sales of 256 million euros ($349.20 million)in the 2012/13 fiscal year and employs around 1,800 people.

Metro, Europe’s fourth-biggest retailer which operates a sprawling empire of 2,200 outlets in 31 countries, has been trimming its portfolio to focus on its cash and carry and consumer electronics stores, which it sees as its most promising businesses for the future.

In 2012, Metro sold its Real hypermarkets in eastern Europe to French rival Auchan for 1.1 billion euros, leaving Turkey as Real’s only market outside Germany. Metro said yesterday that Turkey remained an important focus for its cash and carry business and its Media-Saturn business, Europe’s biggest consumer electronics chain.