* Beisheim Group aims to cut Metro stake to about 10 pct
* Haniel, Schmidt-Ruthenbeck hold in total 50.01 pct stake
* Metro shares close 3.1 percent higher (Adds Otto Beisheim Group's sale of Metro shares)
FRANKFURT, Oct 6 (Reuters) - Otto Beisheim Group separated its 18.5 percent holding in Metro from an investor pool and is looking to slash its stake in the world's fourth-largest retailer to about 10 percent, according to statements from the two companies on Tuesday.
Otto Beisheim, 85, quit a shareholder pact with the Haniel and Schmidt-Ruthenbeck families, which had together controlled about 66 percent of Metro. Otto Beisheim Group wanted to manage its holdings independently, it said last month.
After markets closed, Otto Beisheim Group said in a separate statement it was selling up to 5.2 percent of its shares in Metro to institutional investors, adding that a holding of about 10 percent would make strategic sense and would suffice.
A spokesman for Otto Beisheim told Reuters that the holding company was selling Metro shares because it was seeking to have a more diversified portfolio.
The Haniel and Schmidt-Ruthenbeck families hold 47.41 percent in Metro via the investor pact and the Schmidt-Ruthenbeck clan separately holds another 2.6 percent, Haniel said. Thus, together the families hold 50.01 percent.
Metro shares closed up 3.1 percent at 38.39 euros, outperforming a 2.7 percent rise in Germany's blue-chip DAX index. (Reporting by Eva Kuehnen and Ludwig Burger, Editing by Dan Lalor and Simon Jessop)