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Metro AG CEO says Russian share sale around Easter doable

Olaf Koch, chief executive of Metro AG, addresses the annual shareholder meeting in Dusseldorf February 12, 2014. REUTERS/Ina Fassbender

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The planned flotation of a stake in German retailer Metro's Russian wholesale business could come around Easter, its chief executive told a German newspaper.

"I don't want to make a commitment, but that would not be unrealistic. It's doable as long as the conditions are right," Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung quoted Olaf Koch as saying in an interview published on Monday.

Two people familiar with the plans had told Reuters earlier this month that the sale would come around Easter, putting Metro head-to-head with Russian hypermarket operator Lenta in a push for new investors.

"If we do the stock market listing, we would like to do it in the first half of the year. Our preparations are on track," Koch told Frankfurter Allgemeine.

Metro's stock sale is expected to raise at least 1 billion euros ($1.37 billion) for the company, with analysts valuing the business as a whole at 4-7.5 billion euros.

Goldman Sachs and Sberbank are organising Metro's Russian share offer, people familiar with the transaction have said.

($1 = 0.7275 euros)

(Reporting by Maria Sheahan. Editing by Jane Merriman)