New Kaufhof owner Hudson's Bay not interested in tie-up with Karstadt

Hudson's Bay Co 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 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.