German wholesaler Metro AG has surprised bidders by cancelling the sales just days before it was supposed to be granting exclusivity on two portfolios, PropertyEU can reveal.
The company put €200 mln of stores up for sale in Central and Eastern Europe.
Over 15 submissions were made in the first round of bidding for the nine stores in Romania and five in Slovakia and the process had recently reached the second round stage.
However, those that made it onto that short list have been informed by Metro it is cancelling the process.
A spokeswoman for Metro AG told PropertyEU: ‘We have assessed various options and we have decided not to pursue the concerned SLB project further.’ The company declined to elaborate on reasons why.
The sales process would have seen wholesale food outlets totalling around 200,000 m2 sold to an investor and leased back for 12 years, with the package attracting interest from German institutional money as well as local firms. Portico Investments, indirectly owned by Washington State Investment Board, was among those that made it into second round bids.
Had the deal progressed it could have been one of the larger real estate transactions in Central Europe this year.
The German wholesaler operates around 680 stores in 24 countries in Europe and Asia.
On 4 May, the company presented its H1 financial figures, which showed sales declined 11.5%.
