Amsterdam, Sept 20 - Dutch retailer Ahold, pressured by two hedge-fund shareholders to break up the company, is in merger talks with Belgian retailer Delhaize, a newspaper reported on Wednesday.
"For some time, they have been speaking and looking at ways of working together, which could lead to a takeover," Dutch financial daily het Financieele Dagblad quoted an unnamed source as saying.
Ahold said it had no comment on the report. Delhaize also had no comment. "We do not comment on speculation and rumours," Delhaize company spokesman Hans Michiels said.
Analysts said a merger between the two retailers was unlikely as Ahold is in the midst of a restructuring and due to possible competition issues with U.S. authorities as both companies operate in the east coast of the United States.
But Delhaize and other retailers could eye parts of Ahold's U.S. activities.
"We continue to believe that Delhaize as well as Tesco would be interested in parts of Ahold's operations in U.S. retail," Rabo Securities wrote in a note.
Hedge funds Paulson & Co. Inc. and Centaurus Capital, which together own about 6.4 percent of Ahold, have urged the retailer to sell its U.S. activities and concentrate on its more lucrative European business.
The Dutch company, the world's fourth-biggest food retail and foodservice group in sales terms, has been struggling to recover its footing after a 2003 accounting scandal.