Metro to buy Arcandor?

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} Germany's biggest retail group, Metro, may be about to buy the assets of its retail rival Arcandor, which filed for bankruptcy on Tuesday after the German government refused to bail it out.   Arcandor, which employs about 70,000 people, had asked for Ôé¼650 million (┬ú561 million) of loan guarantees from the German government to refinance its loans.   The German government was reluctant to help because Arcandor had been in trouble before the economic crisis.   Metro boss Eckhard Cordes told the ZDF television channel: "We have a short and medium-term objective to create a large new ensemble," adding that he thought the combination could be listed as a new company.   Arcandor's bankruptcy filing covers German retailer Karstadt and its mail-order businesses, but travel company Thomas Cook, of which Arcandor owns 53 percent, is a separate operation which the company said would "remain unaffected".   Metro had been in talks with Arcandor on a merger of their department stores before the bankruptcy.   It may now merge its Kaufhof chain of stores with Karstadt and retain about 160 of the combined 200 department stores, Cordes said.     *┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á *┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á *