Metro eyes Russian hypermarkets

German retailer Metro's hypermarket unit Real is seeking acquisitions in eastern Europe, unit head Joel Saveuse told the Financial Times Deutschland paper in an interview.

 Saveuse did
not say which companies Metro was reviewing. The paper said a
possible candidate could be Russian hypermarket chain Mosmart, which
Saveuse said was a "very good chain".

Real has 342
stores in Germany and 90 in eastern Europe. Separately, Metro Chief
Executive Eckhard Cordes told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung that
Real posted a pretax profit in all regions in 2008.

Cordes also
said he would be prepared to hold talks over department store chain
Kaufhof with Arcandor if the rival's new chief executive,
Kark-Gerhard Eick, asked him to.

"If Mr.
Eick asks for talks, it is of course only polite to comply with the
request," Cordes said.

Metro has
said that Kaufhof is no longer a part of its core business, and there
has been speculation that Arcandor could buy the chain. But Cordes
said Metro would not sell Kaufhof below its value to achieve a quick
sale.