Tesco has been urged by analysts to make a bid for Dutch retailer Ahold - to boost its presence in the US.

Talk of a bid for the Dutch retailer - valued at up to £13.5bn - resurfaced yesterday after ING issued a note claiming a tie-up would “make sense” for Tesco and could boost its profits by almost a third.

“The US market is too big for Tesco to ignore, yet any attempt to increase the scale of Fresh & Easy could prove very risky,” ING analysts wrote. “Ahold should be viewed as a one-off opportunity to acquire an undervalued asset at a low point in the US consumer cycle.”

A tie-up would add 700 US outlets to Tesco’s 126-strong Fresh & Easy portfolio.

Ten problems to keep Sir Terry up at night (24/4/09)
Fresh & Easy will not break even this year, admits Tesco (20/4/09)


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