Germany's Metro announced Wednesday it would spin off its two major businesses into two separate units, with both of them to be listed on the stock exchange.

The management board of Metro is preparing the creation of two sector-focused companies through a demerger of the group, the retail and wholesale giant confirmed.

The company explained the split would leave a wholesale and food specialist group on the one hand and a consumer electronics products and services unit on the other.

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A decentralizing strategy

Metro said the aim of the move would be to give each of the units and their respective management full control over their corporate strategies.

"This will further increase customer focus, accelerate growth of the businesses, simplify structures and improve time-to-market and operational excellence," the group said in a statement.

Both entities would be able to independently pursue acquisition and partnership strategies, enabling them to define their own expansion strategies, Metro argued.

Right now, the company is the fourth-largest retailer in the world by revenue behind Wal-Mart, Carrefour and Tesco. It includes retail brands Metro Cash & Carry, Real, Media Markt and Saturn.

hg/jd (dpa, AP, Reuters)