DUESSELDORF, Germany (Reuters) - German prosecutors said on Monday that they were investigating multiple officials at Metro AG (DE:B4B) for possible insider trading and market manipulation.
The prosecutors did not specify names, but on Friday the retailer said German prosecutors were investigating the supervisory board chairman and a senior executive of the retailer.
The investigation centers on the flow of information ahead of a March 30, 2016, announcement by Metro on plans to separate its wholesale and food business from its consumer electronics chain to help each focus and grow faster, sending its stock 12 percent higher. The consumer electronics business is now listed on the stock exchange under the name Ceconomy (DE:CECG).
"There are indications that three persons from the company and one person outside the company were acquiring shares in Metro or forwarding insider information by using insider information," the Duesseldorf prosecutor, Ralf Moellmann, said in a statement.
A regulatory filing shows that supervisory board Chairman Juergen Steinemann bought 43,000 shares in Metro on Feb. 22, 2016, worth just over 1 million euros ($1.16 million) at the time.
Chief Operating Officer Pieter Boone purchased 2,175 shares on Feb. 26, 2016, a separate filing showed.
Metro wasn't immediately available for comment. On Friday, a spokesman for Metro said: "At the time that Mr. Steinemann and Mr. Boone bought shares, no insider information was available."