German retailer Metro to sell UK's Booker Group stake
(Reuters) - Metro AG will sell its stake in Britain's biggest cash-and-carry wholesaler, Booker Group Plc , as the German retailer looks to reinvest capital and trim debt.
The company will sell its about 9 percent holding, or about 156.6 million shares, through a placement, JPMorgan Cazenove, the sole bookrunner on the deal, said in a statement on Tuesday.
Metro, which runs Europe's largest consumer electronics chain Media-Saturn as well as Real hypermarkets and Kaufhof department stores in Germany, will continue its strategic partnership with Booker.
The German company became the largest shareholder in Booker in May 2012 when it sold its loss-making British cash-and-carry operations to Booker in a 140 million pound deal.
Shares in Booker, which supplies to caterers, convenience stores, restaurants and pubs in the UK, closed at 135.3 pence on the London Stock Exchange.
(Reporting by Karen Rebelo in Bangalore)
