inc. . metro ag type aktiengesellschaft traded as fwb meo industry retailing founded 1964 ; metro ag formed in 1996 headquarters d sseldorf germany area served europe asia africa key people olaf koch ceo franz haniel chairman of supervisory board products cash & carry warehouse club department store electronics specialty hypermarket supercenter superstore other specialty revenue 59.219 billion 2014 15 1 operating income 1.511 billion 2014 15 1 profit 672 million 2014 15 1 total assets 27.656 billion 2014 15 1 total equity 5.172 billion 2014 15 1 number of employees 226 895 2014 15 1 divisions metro cash and carry real media markt & saturn website metrogroup.de head office metro ag otherwise known as metro group is a german global diversified retail and wholesale cash and carry group based in d sseldorf . 2 as of 2010 update it was the fourth largest retailer in the world measured by revenues after wal mart carrefour and tesco . 3 it was established in 1964 by founders ernst schmidt and wilhelm schmidt ruthenbeck 1906 1988 . otto beisheim became ceo and chairman of metro . contents 1 history 2 sales divisions 3 division of the company 4 international presence 5 see also 6 references 7 external links history edit in june 2009 it was reported that the company was looking to purchase some of the assets of arcandor after the firm filed for bankruptcy . citation needed they split off and floated their praktiker division in december 2006 a diy home improvement chain with stores in several countries . in 2012 the company threatened microsoft with legal action for infringing on metro trademarks held by metro ag . metro had been the name of microsoft s new windows 8 style user interface . 4 on june 15 2015 metro ag agreed to sell galeria kaufhof to canadian retail conglomerate hudson s bay company for 3.2 billion . 5 sales divisions edit the company operates the following sales divisions metro and makro cash and carry makro stores in the united kingdom and elsewhere in europe were acquired from shv holdings in 1998 this division accounts for nearly half of group sales as of 2004 and is by far the most internationalised division with stores in almost every country in which the group operates . real a hypermarket operator . 265 stores in germany and 34 elsewhere as of early 2005 . media markt and saturn media markt and saturn are consumer electronics stores in germany and several other european countries . division of the company edit on march 30 2016 metro group announced that it will be splitting into two independent companies 6 a leading international wholesale and food specialist comprising metro makro and real as well as a corresponding division and service companies . a leader in consumer electronics products and services comprising media markt and saturn and its portfolio including strong formats and brands . a spin off of the wholesale and food sector of current metro ag will be responsible for the group s division into two independent and publicly listed companies . both will have their own management supervisory board and independent company profiles . as a result the companies will be able to put a greater focus on their customer groups and markets in the future . each of the two companies will launch as independent publicly traded company with their own management board and independent profile . this separation will allow the two companies to focus on their own customer groups and markets . international presence edit metro group around the world as of 2012 the metro group operated stores in 25 european countries 5 asian countries and 1 in africa . see also edit germany portal companies portal european retail round table metro cash and carry references edit a b c d e f annual report 2014 15 . metro ag . retrieved 30 may 2016 . self published source contact & directions . metro ag . retrieved 15 june 2014 . metro stra e 1 40235 d sseldorf self published source switching channels global powers of retailing 2012 report . delotte . january 2012 . p. g11 . retrieved 15 june 2015 . bright peter 2 august 2012 . sources claim that german retailer metro ag is unhappy with redmond . . ars technica . canada s hudson s bay company and metro group reach agreement over sale of galeria kaufhof . hbc.com . metro group prepares demerger into two independent strong wholesale and retail groups . metrogroup.de en . external links edit media related to metro group at wikimedia commons official website v t e mdax companies of germany aareal bank airbus group aurubis axel springer bilfinger brenntag cts eventim deutsche euroshop deutsche pfandbriefbank deutsche wohnen d rr elringklinger evonik industries fielmann fraport fuchs petrolub gea group gerresheimer dmg mori seiki ag hannover re hella hochtief hugo boss jungheinrich kabel deutschland kion group kl ckner krones kuka lanxess leg immobilien leoni man metro mtu aero engines norma group osram prosiebensat .1 media rheinmetall rh n klinikum rtl group salzgitter s dzucker symrise stada tag talanx wacker chemie wincor nixdorf zalando v t e european retail round table members asda c & a carrefour delhaize group el corte ingl s h & m ikea inditex jer nimo martins kingfisher marks & spencer mercadona metro ag ahold tesco retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title metro ag & oldid 744585925 categories retail companies established in 1964retail companies of germanycompanies based in d sseldorfmultinational companies headquartered in germanysupermarkets of germanywholesalersmetro grouphidden categories accuracy disputes from june 2015use dmy dates from april 2011articles containing potentially dated statements from 2010all articles containing potentially dated statementsall articles with unsourced statementsarticles with unsourced statements from september 2015commons category with local link same as on wikidata navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view 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