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| - German retail giant Metro on Thursday rejected the latest takeover offer by EP Global Commerce, owned by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky. Metro's management and supervisory boards said in a statement they were "convinced that the offer prices significantly undervalue the company in terms of its earnings power and value prospects", recommending that shareholders not accept the deal. In mid-September, EP Global Commerce (EPGC), the holding company controlled by Kretinsky, launched a bid to take control of Duesseldorf-based Metro, offering shareholders 8.48 euros ($9.93) per ordinary share, and 8.89 euros per preference share. The latest offer valued the company at just over 3.0 billion euros, well below a 5.8 billion euro bid made last year by EPGC. EPGC currently holds 29.99 percent of Metro, against 23 percent held by two historical shareholders, Beisheim Holding and Meridian Stiftung, with the rest floating on the stock exchange. Beisheim and Meridian told the Financial Times last month that they would not sell their stake, adding that they were "surprised by the offer which de facto just matches the current market price". At 1230 GMT, Metro shares on Frankfurt's MDAX matched the Kretinsky offer at 8.48 euros, down 0.1 percent against an index down around 2.0 percent overall. Metro said it will "continue to be open to a constructive dialogue" with EPGC, who also co-owns French daily Le Monde and holds energy assets. The German company once was one of the world's largest retailers, before it split up into Ceconomy, which runs electronics retailers MediaMarkt and Saturn, and its current incarnation of Metro, which focuses on food wholesale. It recently sold off its activities in China, where the group had set up shop in 1996, and got rid of Real, a loss-making German supermarket chain. At the end of 2019, Metro employed more than 97,000 people worldwide and had a turnover of 27 billion euros. edf/mfp/cdw
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