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Jan 23, 2011
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Mueller says owns over 10 pct of Douglas: report

By
Reuters
Published
Jan 23, 2011

BERLIN | Sun Jan 23, 2011 - German drugstore owner Erwin Mueller owns more than 10 percent of fragrance-to-jewelry retailer Douglas (DOHG.DE) and is considering raising the stake to 15 percent in the coming months, he told WirtschaftsWoche.

Douglas

"I want to be the second-largest shareholder and do not rule out the possibility that we will reach 15 percent in the coming months," he said in comments to the German weekly business magazine published on Sunday.

The largest single shareholder currently is Germany's Oetker group, with 25.8 percent, with Joern and Henning Kreke owning another 12 percent.

Mueller also criticized the chief executive of Douglas, Henning Kreke, for first entering and then pulling out of the Russian market, and openly questioned why the CEO was not sitting down to talk with him as one of his largest shareholders.

"Should the company make further strategic mistakes that put an increase in the share price in danger, Mueller will be asking the right questions at the annual shareholder meeting," he said. Mueller said sales in his own business grew by 10 percent to 3 billion euros ($4.19 billion) last year and he expected its revenue to gain a further 8 percent to roughly 3.25 billion.

Douglas owns the Christ jewelry sales chain, the Thalia bookstore chain and the Douglas perfume stores.

(Reporting by Christiaan Hetzner; Editing by Will Waterman)

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