FRANKFURT, Sept 30 (Reuters) - Hudson's Bay Co HBC.TO is
not interested in merging the businesses of its German Kaufhof
department store with that of rival chain Karstadt, the
president of HBC International said on Wednesday.
Hudson's Bay (HBC) which also operates U.S. department store
Saks and the upmarket Lord & Taylor department store chain,
bought Germany's leading department store from Metro MEOG.DE
for 2.8 billion euros.
The sale thwarted a rival bid by Austrian investor Rene
Benko, the owner of Karstadt, who had been expected to merge the
two businesses, likely resulting in numerous store closures and
job losses.
"We have no interest to divest Kaufhof again," Donald Watros
told Reuters.