Royal Ahold to enter Danish market, possibly by buying AP Moeller-Maersk chain
Dutch retailer Royal Ahold will enter the Danish market, possibly through an acquisition of AP Moeller-Maersk's Dansk Supermarked chain, daily Berlingske Tidende said.
'If you are asking whether the Danish market is interesting for us, then the answer is yes,' Royal Ahold chief executive Anders Moberg said.
'We are interested in buying an established chain or, alternatively, entering a very close collaboration, in which case it should be a chain that is larger than ISO,' he added. ISO is an independent chain of supermarkets mainly located in greater Copenhagen.
'At some point, new foreign players will enter the Danish market as there are a number of interesting actors there,' Moberg said.
The daily cited analysts as saying Ahold is very interested in buying Dansk Supermarked, with which it has co-operated on both purchasing and setting up a chain of discount supermarkets through ICA, in which Ahold has a stake.
According to the newspaper, Ahold has said it will sell its US food business Foodservice, which accounts for about a third of the group sales of 45 bln eur. Ahold will focus on retailing instead.
Dansk Supermarked would not comment and AP Moeller-Maersk has previously said it sees no acquisition of Dansk Supermarked on the cards, Berlingske Tidende added.
'If you are asking whether the Danish market is interesting for us, then the answer is yes,' Royal Ahold chief executive Anders Moberg said.
'We are interested in buying an established chain or, alternatively, entering a very close collaboration, in which case it should be a chain that is larger than ISO,' he added. ISO is an independent chain of supermarkets mainly located in greater Copenhagen.
'At some point, new foreign players will enter the Danish market as there are a number of interesting actors there,' Moberg said.
The daily cited analysts as saying Ahold is very interested in buying Dansk Supermarked, with which it has co-operated on both purchasing and setting up a chain of discount supermarkets through ICA, in which Ahold has a stake.
According to the newspaper, Ahold has said it will sell its US food business Foodservice, which accounts for about a third of the group sales of 45 bln eur. Ahold will focus on retailing instead.
Dansk Supermarked would not comment and AP Moeller-Maersk has previously said it sees no acquisition of Dansk Supermarked on the cards, Berlingske Tidende added.