ZAANDAM, The Netherlands, Jan. 15, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- Ahold (NYSE:AHO):
ICA Ahold and the Dutch insurance company AEGON have ended negotiations on forming a joint venture involving ICA Banken, a subsidiary of ICA Ahold.
In November 2002, ICA Ahold and AEGON announced that they had started talks on a 50/50 joint venture in ICA Banken (based in Solna, Sweden), for the provision of financial services through ICA Ahold's retail network. These negotiations have been discontinued because of divergent views on both the strategic direction for the bank and the transaction price.
ICA Banken remains a wholly-owned subsidiary of ICA Ahold AB and will continue to focus on providing financial services, which customers require on a day-to-day basis.
About ICA Ahold AB
ICA Ahold AB is the leading retailing group in the Nordic region with 3,100 stores in Scandinavia and the Baltic countries. In addition, ICA Ahold and Statoil jointly own and operate 1,500 Statoil service stations across Scandinavia. ICA Ahold is owned by ICA Forbundet Invest AB (30%), Canica AS of Norway (20%) and Ahold (50%).
This Ahold press release contains "forward-looking statements." Actual results may differ from such statements as they may have been influenced by factors beyond the company's ability to control, as more fully discussed in the company's annual report.