Reuters – Dutch retailer Ahold posted forecast-beating second-quarter earnings on Thursday and said it was not in talks with two hedge funds keen on a break-up, or private equity firms eyeing abuyout.<\/p>\n
The stock rose more than 3 percent, approaching a three-year high.<\/p>\n
“There is no dialogue,” Chief Executive Anders Moberg told reporters in a conference call.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
“We have not had any further conversations with Ahold,” said Randel Freeman of Centaurus Capital, adding he was not surprised Ahold had not spoken to the hedge funds before its results.<\/p>\n
But Freeman, speaking on a conference call about Centaurus and Paulson’s demands for restructuring at Dutch industrial systems and services group Stork NV, noted that Ahold officials had been at a Stork shareholder meeting this week.<\/p>\n
Moberg said Ahold, the world’s fourth-biggest food retailing and foodservice group by sales, had not been approached by private equity firms to be bought.<\/p>\n