Germany investment company Franz Haniel & Cie has generated proceeds of EUR300m (US406.2m) from the completed reduction of its shareholding in Metro Group.

Haniel, which announced its intention to reduce the stake from 34.24% to 30.01% in November, said today (6 February) the completed disposal of 13.7m shares is a further “important” step towards reducing its debt.

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“We are pleased that we were able to take this important, previously announced, step towards reducing our debt in such a short space of time,” said CEO Stephan Gemkow. “The shareholding in Metro AG will remain at anchor for Haniel investment going forward.”

Following the reduction of the stake, Haniel remains the largest shareholder in Metro.

Metro’s shares jumped 3.47% to EUR23.28 at 11:06 GMT on the news.

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