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Metro, which had only five stores in Denmark,
said previously the business had not been profitable for several
years.
"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," Metro's managing
director for Denmark, Charles Kay, said in a statement.
Two stores in Glostrup and Aarhus will be sold to food service
company Euro Cater, safeguarding around 300 jobs, while the
remaining three stores in Aalborg, Kolding and Copenhagen will
be closed by the end of the year.
Metro said it had come to a deal with unions and labor
representatives regarding about 400 staff in the stores to be
closed.
Alongside cash and carries, Metro runs Europe's largest consumer
electronics chain Media-Saturn as well as Real hypermarkets and
Kaufhof department stores in Germany.
Financial details of the sale to Euro Cater were not disclosed.
Metro shares were down 1.2 percent at 1023 GMT (0623 EDT),
outperforming a 2.6 percent drop in German medium-sized stocks.
(Reporting by Victoria Bryan; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)
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