THE WORLD'S BIGGEST RETAILER WAL-MART STORES INC SAID FRIDAY IT WAS PULLING OUT OF GERMANY AND SELLING ITS STORES TO METRO AG AFTER IT BATTLED TO MAKE A PROFIT IN EUROPE'S BIGGEST ECONOMY, REPORTED DPA. GERMANY'S BIGGEST RETAILER IS TO BUY 85 HYPERMARKET STORES FROM WAL-MART BUT DID NOT GIVE A PRICE FOR THE ACQUISITION OF THE OUTLETS WHICH GENERATED SALES OF ABOUT 2 BILLION EUROS (2.54 BILLION DOLLARS) LAST YEAR. METRO ALSO DID NOT PROVIDE ANY DETAILS OF THE "SIGNIFICANT SYNERGIES" IT SAID IT EXPECTED TO RESULT FROM THE PURCHASE. THE ACQUISITION NOW HAS TO BE CLEARED BY MONOPOLY AUTHORITIES, BUT METRO SAID THAT IT WAS CONFIDENT THAT THE DEAL COULD BE FINALIZED THIS YEAR. THE DECISION BY THE ARKANSAS-BASED WAL-MART TO SELL OUT OF GERMANY'S HARD-PRESSED RETAILING MARKET COMES SOME 17 YEARS AFTER IT FIRST ENTERED THE COUNTRY. HOWEVER, IN RECENT YEARS RETAILING IN EUROPE'S BIGGEST ECONOMY HAS BEEN THROUGH A PROTRACTED PERIOD OF STAGNATION WITH THE SECTOR HIT BY HIGH UNEMPLOYMENT, INTENSE COMPETITION AND LOW WAGE GROWTH.
