Metro AG

Overview

Metro AG

type	Aktiengesellschaft
foundation	1964 as Metro-SB-Großmarkt GmbH & Co. KG 1996 as Metro AG 2017 as Metro AG (new company)
location city	Düsseldorf
location country	Germany
area served	Europe and Pakistan
key people	Steffen Greubel (Chairman) Roman Šilha (Chairman of the supervisory board) ‡R1R‡‡R2R‡
industry	Wholesaling
products	Food and non-food assortments
revenue	€32.447 billion (2024–2025) ‡R3R‡
operating income	€196 million (2024–2025) ‡R3R‡
net income	€-224 million (2024–2025) ‡R3R‡
assets	€12.0 billion (2024–2025) ‡R3R‡
equity	€1.504 billion (2024–2025) ‡R3R‡
num employees	86,740 (2024–2025) ‡R3R‡
locations	622 (2025)
homepage	www.metroag.de

Metro AG is a German multinational company based in Düsseldorf which operates business membership-only cash and carry stores primarily under the Metro brand.[4] As of September 2025, Metro is operating 622 wholesale stores in 21 countries.[5]

The company was established in 1964 by Ernst Schmidt and Wilhelm Schmidt-Ruthenbeck. In 2010, it was the fourth-largest retailer in the world measured by revenues, after Walmart, Carrefour and Tesco.[6] Until 2020, it was also active in the general retail business through the Real division, which was sold to an investor consortium. Its current incarnation was launched in 2017 as a spun-off of old Metro AG, which continued to be a consumer electronics retailer and renamed itself Ceconomy.

History

1963 – 1980

Metro began on 8 November 1963 in Essen with the opening of the first wholesale centre under the name Metro by the brothers Ernst Schmidt and Wilhelm Schmidt-Ruthenbeck. Planning and opening of the first hypermarket under the name Metro in Essen was the responsibility of Walter Vieth, who was managing director there from 1963 to 1970.[7][8]

In 1964, a year after the opening of the first Metro store, the Stöcker & Reinshagen company (the Schell family) planned a cash and carry store in Mülheim an der Ruhr. During construction, the businessmens Schmidt-Ruthenbeck, Schmidt and Schell met and decided to merge their cash and carry activities. So they founded Metro-SB-Großmarkt GmbH & Co. KG with headquarters in Mülheim, later in Düsseldorf. Otto Beisheim, until 1964 authorised signatory of the company Stöcker & Reinshagen, became the sole managing director. In 1966, the third Metro was opened in West Berlin.[8]

In 1966, Otto Beisheim met Friedrich Wilhelm Lenz, chairman of the management board of Franz Haniel & Cie. and convinced him to invest in Metro.[9] In the course of the following reorganization Beisheim became a shareholder himself. From this point on, the founding family Schmidt-Ruthenbeck and the shareholders Beisheim and Haniel each held about one third of the shares.[10]

Under the sole leadership of Otto Beisheim, a rapid expansion of the Metro stores into the greater German and European area began in 1967 with the opening of the Metro stores in Godorf near Cologne, Hamburg, Munich and, after a connection with the Dutch company SHV Holdings, the first C&C wholesale store (brand: Makro) in the Netherlands, and in 1968 in Düsseldorf.[11]

1980 – 2000

In 1980, Metro took over 24.9 per cent of Kaufhof.[12]

In March 1996, Metro AG was formed by the merger of Metro Cash & Carry with Kaufhof Holding AG, Deutsche SB-Kauf AG (of the insolvent company co op AG), and Asko Deutsche Kaufhaus AG (emerged from Allgemeine Saar Konsum, in which a Metro investment company had previously held shares). The group also included the Huma shopping centres, the sports retail stores Primus Sportwelt, MHB Handel AG and the office supplies and stationery manufacturer Pelikan, as well as Media-Saturn, the consumer electronics business of Media Markt and Saturn. The share of Metro AG was founded retrospectively on January 1 and listed on 22 July 1996 on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and was part of the DAX until 2012.[13][14]

In 1998, the computer retailers Vobis and Maxdata

2000 – 2020

In December 2003, Metro separated from its stake in Divaco KG and sold its shares to the sole shareholder and CEO, Siegfried Kaske, for 1 euro. In 2004, Metro bought Adler fashion stores back from Divaco.[19][20]

In 2005, Metro split off the Praktiker home improvement division, which went public as an independent company.[21]

In July 2006 Metro bought the 85 German stores of Wal-Mart, which gave up its loss-making Germany business. The Wal-Mart stores were largely integrated into the Real sales brand.[22]

In July 2008, the Extra supermarket chain with around 250 locations and sales of around 1.6 billion euro, was sold to the Rewe Group. Metro sold the Adler fashion stores to the associated company BluO in February 2009.

Metro AG

History

1963 – 1980

1980 – 2000

2000 – 2020

2020 – present

Controversies

Metro on Russian market

Metro name

See also

External links

References

Former operations