Arcandor fields interest in department stores-paper

FRANKFURT, June 28 (Reuters) - Karstadt, the department store division of insolvent retailer Arcandor (AROG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research), has received expressions of interest from numerous prospective buyers of its outlets, a German Sunday newspaper reported.

Welt am Sonntag cited sources close to Karstadt as saying 15 suitors have expressed an interest in taking over one or more department stores, potentially vying with Metro (MEOG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research), which has previously offered to integrate 60 of Karstadt's 91 outlets into its Kaufhof division.

Metro has also been approached by investors interested in operating the Karstadt outlets Metro does not plan to take over, the newspaper said, citing unspecified sources. Among the suitors is Euroshop, a subsidiary of shopping mall operator ECE, and German food retailer Rewe.

A spokesman for Arcandor, which filed for insolvency earlier this month after calls for state aid were rejected, confirmed to Reuters that there were suitors but would not comment on their number.

A spokesman for insolvency administrator Klaus Hubert Goerg said Arcandor's management was primarily in charge of taking requests for stores before the beginning of official insolvency proceedings in September.

German shopping centre developer Management fuer Immobilien (Mfi) told Handelsblatt newspaper last week it planned to bid for 20 Karstadt department stores. (Reporting by Ludwig Burger and Matthias Inverardi; Editing by Jon Loades-Carter)