The Management Board of METRO AG is preparing the creation of two independent listed entities through a demerger of METRO GROUP. According to the considerations so far, the Wholesale and Food Specialist group (including Real) and further related activities shall be transferred to a new independent company by way of spin-off while the Consumer Electronics products and services group shall remain within the present METRO AG. Should Management and Supervisory Board, following the completion of the ongoing assessments, decide in favour of the demerger, the final decision would still require the shareholders’ approval.

Hengeler Mueller is advising METRO AG on the assessment, preparation and documentation as well as, in accordance with the committees’ decision, the implementation of the transaction. The Hengeler Mueller team includes partners Andreas Austmann, Carsten Schapmann (both Corporate, Düsseldorf), Ralph Defren (Financing, Frankfurt), Dirk Busch, Reinhold Ernst (both Capital Markets, Düsseldorf) as well as associates Martin Ulbrich, Dominik Heß, Christian Strothotte, Gianna Velte (all Corporate, Düsseldorf), Till Hiemenz-Müller (Financing, Frankfurt), Caspar Haarmann (Düsseldorf) and counsels Cecilia Di Ció (Frankfurt) (both Capital Markets) and Manuela Roeding (Litigation, Düsseldorf).