German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck isn't ruling out state aid for retail and travel group Arcandor AG (ARO.XE), he told ARD television show Morgenmagazin early Wednesday.

Any decision on state aid for Arcandor must take into account the company's situation and whether it only ran into trouble after July 1, 2008, he said.

Arcandor, with over 50,000 employees, employs more people in Germany than General Motors Corp.'s (GM) unit Adam Opel GmbH, Steinbrueck noted. The German government is expected to help fund a deal to secure the future of Opel.

Arcandor has applied for EUR650 million in state-backed guarantees from the German government's EUR115 billion fund to assist companies pinched by tight credit conditions as a result of the global financial crisis. Arcandor has said it needs the guarantees by June 12 to prevent looming insolvency.

A government committee will meet Thursday to review Arcandor's aid application.

Television Web site: www.daserste.de/moma/

-Frankfurt Bureau, Dow Jones Newswires; 49-69-29725-500.