According to the Economic Times and now Reuters, India's retail giant Reliance Retail is in talks with the UK’s Marks & Spencer for an equal joint-venture for apparel, gourmet food and cafes.

The Economic Times cited un-named sources telling it that a deal could be struck in the next three weeks.

Neither company has made a comment on the story.

M&S also moved to dismiss a story in the Jewish Chronicle, that it is planning to re-launch itself on the Israeli market. JC.com said M&S is looking to open six stores in 2008-09, but the chain said this was “just rumour and speculation”.

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