1144 GMT [Dow Jones]--Metro shares initially gain 3.3% after a newspaper report that Austrian investor and Karstadt owner Rene Benko has made a bid for the group's Kaufhof department stores. According to weekly Lebensmittel Zeitung, Mr. Benko is offering between EUR2.5B and EUR2.7B. Traders say an acquisition would make sense, that Mr. Benko has a proven track record of successful transactions and that the price would be fair, after his previous offer of EUR2.1B in 2011. Metro declined comment. A spokesman for Mr. Benko's Signa-Holding denied the intention to buy Kaufhof. Shares +1.5% at EUR25.49. (Manuel.Priego-Thimmel@wsj.com; Natali.schwab@wsj.com)

 
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