Beisheim and Meridian, two major shareholders of Metro, have increased their stakes in the German group to just over 23 %. They also want to buy more shares in the future – possibly hoping to frustrate rival stakeholder Daniel Kretinsky?
Support for management
In a joint statement, Beisheim and Meridian state that Metro’s current share price does not correspond to the intrinsic value of the company. They support management’s strategy of focusing entirely on wholesale and have therefore increased their stakes in the company to 7.19 % and 15.87 % respectively.
In recent years, Metro has systematically sold assets in order to concentrate fully on its European cash & carry business and supply to hotels, restaurants and independent traders. Nevertheless, the group is still going through difficult times in Germany, and especially in Russia.
In August last year Beisheim and Meridian successfully stopped Kretinsky from acquiring Metro through EP Global Commerce. Together with his partner Patrik Tkac, Kretinsky now owns 29.99 % of the shares.
