Consortium of US investor Baker, Beetz to buy German retail giant Galeria, sources say

Galeria slipped into insolvency for the third time in roughly three years in January after being hit by problems at Signa, the Austrian-based property empire that has become the biggest casualty so far in Europe's real-estate crisis.

A consortium including Hudson Bay Company CEO Richard Baker's investment firm NRDC Corp is set to take over German department store chain Galeria, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday.

A spokesperson for Galeria's insolvency administrator Stefan Denkhaus declined to comment. The renowned chain came up for sale following the collapse of Rene Benko's Signa conglomerate, and final negotiations with two bidders have been taking place in recent days.

Both potential buyers intended to continue operating Galeria as a whole, Denkhaus said recently on a call with journalists. The consortium will be led by NRDC and German businessman Bernd Beetz, former head of cosmetics company Coty and a former supervisory board chairman at Galeria.

Germany's Handelsblatt business daily first reported that NRDC would receive the contract. Galeria slipped into insolvency for the third time in roughly three years in January after being hit by problems at Signa, the Austrian-based property empire that has become the biggest casualty so far in Europe's real-estate crisis.

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