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WestLB and BayernLB have jointly lead arranged the successful placement of a € 500 million Schuldscheindarlehen for the METRO Group in the euro capital market. METRO Group is one of the largest trading companies worldwide.

The Schuldscheindarlehen, which is issued by METRO Finance B.V., is covered by a guarantee of METRO AG. It has a volume of € 500 million and is divided into a variable-rate tranche of € 387 million and a fixed-rate tranche of € 113 million. Both tranches have a four-year maturity (due on March 13, 2012). The fixed-rate tranche carries a coupon of 4.74% (which corresponds to a spread of 80 bp over 4-year swaps), with the variable-rate tranche paying interest at 80 bp over 3-month Euribor.

The Schuldscheindarlehen will be used for general company financing purposes and for refinancing existing liabilities.

The Schuldscheindarlehen was placed with more than fifty investors from nine countries. Over 40% of the volume was accounted for by savings banks and Landesbanks, roughly 31% by domestic banks and 29% by foreign banks. The transaction was heavily oversubscribed and the original issuing volume of € 200 million was increased accordingly. In addition, the margin was fixed at the lower end of the marketing range. In view of the challenging and volatile conditions in the capital market, this was a particular success which underscores the excellent standing of the METRO Group in the capital market. As part of the marketing process an investor call took place on February 20, 2008.

Thomas Unger, Chief Financial Officer of the METRO Group, said:
“With this widely placed Schuldscheindarlehen, METRO Group has successfully continued its capital market-oriented financing strategy and added a further instrument to its range of benchmark facilities. This success is a very positive signal in the current challenging situation on the financial markets.”

METRO Group is rated Baa2 stable outlook by Moody´s and BBB positive watch by Standard & Poor´s.

METRO Group is one of the major international trading companies. In 2007 sales exceeded € 64 billion. The company operates at over 2,200 locations in 31 countries and has roughly 280,000 employees. The efficiency of the METRO Group is based on the strength of its brand names, which operate independently in the market: Metro/Makro Cash & Carry – world leader in the cash & carry segment, Real SB department stores, Media Markt and Saturn – European market leader in the electrical discount stores segment - and Galeria Kaufhof department stores.