BEIJING, Sept. 21 -- Metro AG, Germany's largest retailer, said yesterday that Chief Executive Officer Hans-Joachim Koerber will step down at the end of next month and be succeeded by Eckhard Cordes, chairman of its supervisory board.
Cordes heads Franz Haniel & Cie, which bought joint control of the Dusseldorf, Germany-based retailer with the Schmidt-Ruthenbeck family on Aug. 31. Metro made the announcement in a statement posted on its Website.
Haniel said last month it would support "strategic options" for the company, sparking speculation that the new owners may press the retailer to speed expansion abroad or sell real estate.
Metro sells food, clothes and electronics and owns chains in Russia and China, where sales are outpacing growth in the retailer's home market.
The Haniel family says that it is "frustrated" and "would like to have more control over further disposals of underperforming assets," Christopher Gower, an analyst at MF Global in London, said when the change was first reported on Wednesday by Sueddeutsche Zeitung.
Koerber joined Metro in 1985 as a board member and was appointed chief executive officer in 1999. His contract was due to expire at the end of Feb. 2009.
Under Koerber, Metro's share price has quadrupled in the last five years after four years of decline. Prices have gained 38 percent this year, valuing Metro at 21.8 billion euros (30.6 billion U.S. dollars), according to Bloomberg News.
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