Hudson's Bay Company, the operator of Saks Fifth Avenue will acquire German department store chain Galeria Kaufhof from retailer Metro AG. It will spend €2.83 billion ($3.19 billion) including debt to buy the store chain.

The decision has been taken by the company in order to expand beyond North America and come up with Saks-branded stores in Europe.

According to Gerald L. Storch, the Hudson's Bay chief executive, the transaction is an important step towards their plans to become a premier global retailer. He added, "We look forward to working with Galeria Kaufhof's management team as we bring together two geographically complementary businesses, diversifying H. B. C.'s revenue base with leading banners in Canada, the United States, Germany and Belgium".

Storch called the step a strong foundation that will help search more opportunities for growth throughout the Continent. HBC operates Saks and other chains in the US and Canada; it has been discussing to acquire Galeria Kaufhof and its Belgian subsidiary for months.

Metro Chief Executive Olaf Koch said that in recent years, they were quite satisfied with Galeria Kaufhof. According to Metro, the sale includes Galeria Inno in Belgium in addition to the operational department store business in Germany and also the likewise owned real estate portfolio.

Richard Baker, CEO of HBC said that they were looking forward to acquire Galeria Kaufhof since 2006. HBC said in early June that it had thought of investing some amount in 'growth initiatives' it's current fiscal year and had set aside 50 million Canadian dollars ($40.6 million) for that.