Ahold’s U.S. Foodservice unit for sale
Supermarket chain operator Royal Ahold announced plans Monday to sell its U.S. Foodservice Inc. unit as part of a major strategic shift back to its roots in retail.
As part of the plan, Ahold also said, it would sell its Tops stores in New York and Pennsylvania, its retail operations in Poland and Slovakia and its 49% stake in Portugal’s Jeronimo Martins Retail.
Analysts said the moves were logical for Ahold, which has gradually returned to firm financial footing after an accounting scandal centered on U.S. Foodservice pushed it to the edge of bankruptcy in 2003.
Ahold promised to use proceeds from the sale to return at least 2 billion euros ($2.5 billion) to shareholders and reduce debt.
Ahold operates the Stop & Shop and Giant chains in the U.S. and several large European chains.
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