Amsterdam, March 15 - Shares in Ahold rose as much as 4.4 percent on Thursday on renewed speculation about a merger with Belgian rival Delhaize.
"The fantasy is that there may still be a merger in the long term," said AFS Brokers trader Siebe de Koning.
But Delhaize Chief Executive Pierre-Olivier Beckers told a news conference in Brussels that a merger with Ahold was not a short-term priority, adding the company did not rule the possibility of larger buys.
Ahold, the world's fourth-biggest food retail and foodservice group by sales, has put its catering supply business U.S. Foodservice up for sale, with analysts saying the disposal could pave the way for a merger with Delhaize.
The Dutch company would be more complementary as a possible merger target without U.S. Foodservice, Delhaize's chief financial officer said.
Ahold shares were 2.4 percent higher at 7.72 euros by 1051 GMT, outperforming a 1.3 percent rise in Amsterdam's blue-chip AEX index. The shares had earlier touched 7.87 euros. Delhaize shares were 1.8 percent up at 65.64 euros.
Ahold owns the Netherlands' biggest supermarket chain but generates more than 70 percent of its turnover in the United States.