Ahold is rumoured to be selling off all or part of its US Foodservice. According to reports in the national press, Ahold's interim chief financial officer, Dudley Eustace and other senior executives at the company have formed the plan to reduce the estimated debt of euro12 billion.
A source at the company said that the firm was in early talks with a corporate partner interested in buying parts of US Foodservice, but added that a sale of the whole company also makes sense.
Ahold has already announced divestment plans for its South American businesses and sold an Indonesia operation. It has been suggested that the company seems to be steering towards concentration on its European and possibly, US business.
Meanwhile, the group has fulfilled the first of three conditions of a critical credit facility, by delivering its audited results for Albert Heijn, its Dutch subsidiary. It must now deliver the results of US chain, stop and shop by June 30 and last year's group results by August 15.