German department store operator Metro has signed an agreement to sell parts of METRO Cash & Carry Denmark to Euro Cater, a food service company in Denmark and Sweden.
The divestment is part of retailer’s recent consideration to withdraw its wholesale business from Denmark.
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Euro Cater will take over the stores in Glostrup and Aarhus and integrate them from December in its Danish distribution network. The transaction is subject to approval of the Danish antitrust authorities which is expected by end of November.
Further, Metro has decided to close the other three wholesale stores in Denmark and exit the Danish market.
Effective 31 December 2014, the stores in Aalborg, Kolding and Copenhagen will be closed.
An agreement for 400 employees in these stores and the headquarters of the Danish operations has been negotiated and agreed on with the employee representatives and the unions.
Euro Cater CEO Steen Pedersen said: "The stores in Glostrup and Aarhus will complement our existing network of 14 distribution and 2 Cash & Carry locations in Denmark. We are very happy to have the new colleagues from METRO Cash & Carry on board and look forward to developing our business together with them."
Metro Denmark’s managing director Charles Kay said: "Given the fact that we have not succeeded in extending our market share in Denmark despite intensive efforts we finally decided to withdraw from the Danish market."
