Amsterdam/Brussels, Sept 20 - Shares in Dutch retailer Ahold and Belgium's Delhaize rose on Wednesday on a report the two companies were considering a merger, which analysts said could hold pitfalls for both.
Ahold was trading 1.5 percent higher at 8.09 euros at 0849 GMT, after earlier hitting a three-year high of 8.12 euros. The Dutch retailer is under pressure from hedge funds Paulson & Co. Inc. and Centaurus Capital, which together own about 6.4 percent of Ahold, to break the company up,
Delhaize was 1.2 percent higher at 61.80 euros, outperforming a 0.1 percent rise in the DJ Stoxx retail index.
"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, the world's fourth-largest food retailer by sales, and Delhaize declined to comment on the report.
"We do not comment on speculation and rumours," Delhaize spokesman Hans Michiels said.
Analysts said a merger between the two retailers was unlikely, as Ahold is in the midst of a restructuring and because of possible competition issues with U.S. authorities as both companies operate on the east coast of the United States.
"Potential hurdles to a combination of the two companies are thought to be U.S. Foodservice, the performance of Ahold's U.S. retail operations, the larger size of Ahold and cultural differences," SNS Securities analyst Richard Withagen wrote in a note.
Ahold, struggling to get back on track after an accounting scandal in 2003, has set an autumn deadline to complete a review of its underperforming assets. Analysts expect the company to sell some assets as part of any revamp.
Centaurus and Paulson are pushing Ahold to sell its U.S. activities and concentrate on its more lucrative European business, but so far management has refused to meet them, pending the review.
The U.S. operations make up more than 70 percent of total sales but margins have been squeezed amid rising competition from discounters and high energy prices.
Analysts said smaller Delhaize, which has a market value of about two-fifths of Ahold and generates about 80 percent of its sales in the U.S., needs time to get back on its feet after its own restructuring.
"I have doubts about whether this is good for Delhaize. Delhaize took four years to turn around (U.S. foodchain) Food Lion. Big is not always beautiful," said Pascale Weber, analyst at KBC Securities.
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.
Ahold trades at 16.3 times forecast 2006 earnings, a premium to Delhaize's 14.4 times but below a multiple of 17 times for Britain's Tesco.