ESSEN, Germany (Reuters) - Germany's Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof is to be taken over by a consortium of U.S. investor Richard Baker and German businessman Bernd Beetz, the retailer said on Wednesday.

The announcement marks official confirmation of a Reuters report on Tuesday.

Galeria, the nation's most prominent retailer, earlier this year began the search for new owners after filing for insolvency following the collapse of its parent Signa, the Austria-based property empire that has become the biggest casualty so far in Europe's real-estate crisis.

Galeria said it would submit the takeover plan to a local court at the end of April and that creditors would have a vote, likely at the end of May.