Fifty-eight of the 73 stores of insolvent German home improvement retailer Max Bahr are likely to be saved in a deal with supermarket chain Globus, two people familiar with the negotiations said on Tuesday. Max Bahr was due to start clearance sales on Wednesday, like those currently being held at stores of its parent company Praktiker, which has also filed for insolvency. But German group Globus has reached a last-minute agreement with Royal Bank of Scotland, which owns 66 of Max Bahr's stores, and contracts should be signed on Wednesday, one of the sources said.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said on Saturday that there were no longer any risks of contagion in the euro zone, and Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras stressed his country did not need a further bailout, Reuters reported. Schaeuble said Greece's achievements in the last 1-1/2 years, which included better-than-expected growth and progress in reducing its deficit, merited respect. He also pointed to the decline in the difference between yields on German and Greek bonds.

German savers angry over low interest rates are complicating the European Central Bank's efforts to keep Europe from sliding into a downward spiral of falling prices and economic stagnation, The Wall Street Journal reported. But the uproar in Europe's biggest economy over the ECB's latest interest-rate cut earlier this month to a record-low 0.25% is unlikely to stop the ECB from pursuing radical measures if needed to avoid a decade of economic malaise. For while Germany still matters greatly, it has lost its perceived veto at the ECB on major decisions.

Germany was once known for its superfast autobahns, efficient industry and ability to rally public resources for big projects, like integration with the former East Germany. But more recently, it has been forced to confront a somewhat uncharacteristic problem: Its infrastructure — roads, bridges, train tracks, waterways and the like — is aging in a way that experts say could undermine its economic growth for years to come, the International New York Times reported. As it has been preaching austerity to its neighbors, Germany itself has kept a tight rein on spending at home.

Insolvent German home improvement store chain Max Bahr is to enter liquidation after talks to sell the retailer to rival Hellweg failed, its administrator said on Friday. Max Bahr's parent Praktiker is already being liquidated after the administrator failed to find a buyer for the whole group. The Max Bahr negotiations were at an advanced stage but collapsed over demands from Royal Bank of Scotland, owner of 66 of the chain's 73 buildings, the administrator said. He added that 3,600 jobs are now at risk.

Germany challenged a central plank of plans to forge a banking union in the euro zone on Thursday, arguing against the use of the currency bloc's funds to help lenders exposed as dangerously weak by health checks next year, Reuters reported. As finance ministers gathered in Brussels to outline plans to deal with banks still in difficulty, Germany's finance minister hardened his stance on the use of the bloc's emergency fund, according to people close to the talks.

Germany's status as Europe’s industrial powerhouse could be damaging the single-currency bloc, the European Commission has said, as it launched a probe into whether the country’s large trade surplus was hindering Europe’s recovery, The Telegraph reported. Europe’s biggest economy was one of three countries singled out for an “in-depth review” by the EC’s Alert Mechanism Report on Wednesday. The Commission said Germany’s large current account surplus, which accounts for most of the eurozone’s positive balance, “may put pressure on the euro to appreciate vis-à-vis other currencies.

Germany's insolvent Hess said on Wednesday auditors found the street light maker's financial accounts for 2007 through 2012 overstated pretax profit by a total of nearly 45 million euros ($60.5 million), Reuters reported. Hess filed for insolvency in February, only months after making its stock market debut, saying a fraud investigation had scuppered its chances of raising urgently-needed funds. It said damages would now have paid to investors, who bought shares in the company based on false accounts.

Distressed debt investor Centerbridge has bought hundreds of millions of euros of Apcoa Parking's leveraged loans in a bid to gain control of Europe's biggest parking management firm, banking sources said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. Lazard and Rothschild are advising Apcoa on a debt restructuring which has to take place before the company's 650 million euros ($875.85 million) of buyout loans mature in April 2014.

A German court started insolvency proceedings for the co-owner of London's landmark Gherkin tower, German property group IVG Immobilien, which will continue to reorganise under its own administration, Reuters reported. IVG plans to submit a plan for its reorganisation to the court prior to Christmas and schedule a vote for its creditor committee in January, the company said on Friday. Should both agree to the plan, which would likely involve a debt-for-equity swap, it could exit the insolvency proceedings in the first half of next year as planned.