Amsterdam

DUTCH-BASED supermarket operator Ahold has reached a deal to buy Belgian peer Delhaize, the companies announced on Wednesday, in a move that will create the sixth-largest food retailer in the United States and the biggest in Europe's Benelux region.

In a joint statement, the two companies said Ahold would have a 61 per cent stake in the merged entity, which will have 54.1 billion euros (S$81.3 billion) in sales, more than 6,500 stores worldwide and complementary operations in the United States and Benelux.