THE NETHERLANDS: The Dutch competition watchdog has approved the acquisition of the Super De Boer chain by rival Jumbo. The 552.5m (£500m) deal is now expected to be completed by 18 December, but Jumbo will have to sell one store to a rival supermarket group as part of the approval for the deal. Super de Boer has announced its chief executive, Jan Brouwer, will resign next March once the deal is complete.

US: Energy drink brand Gatorade has cancelled a contract with Tiger Woods as embarrassing details about his private life continue to circulate. The world number one golfer signed a five-year deal with Gatorade in 2007 and earns an estimated £67.5m a year in brand endorsements. None of Wood's sponsors has screened an advert featuring the golfer since 29 November, according to Nielsen.

PepsiCo will cease production of Gatorade Tiger Focus, but said the decision to discontinue the product was made earlier this year. "We decided several months ago to discontinue Gatorade Tiger Focus along with some other products, to make room for our planned series of innovative launches in 2010."

BELGIUM: Delhaize has laid out plans to cut costs by 300m (£271.9m) by 2012 to fund low prices and expansion in emerging markets. Delhaize told analysts and investors at an event in Athens last week it would open 250 stores in Greece, Romania and Indonesia in the next three years.

"Our top-line growth numbers have not been as buoyant as some of our best-in-class competitors' and we believe this is something we need to address," said Delhaize chief executive Pierre-Olivier Beckers.

JAPAN: Seiyu, the Walmart-owned supermarket chain, is taking advantage of the strong yen by selling imported goods at heavily discounted prices. The promotion will run until January and covers about 150 lines, including fresh produce and branded household items, at prices 20% to 30% lower than usual.

Rival retailers including Ito-Yokado and Aeon have run similar events in recent months, but limited the promotions to a few days. Analysts are predicting Seiyu's strategy will prompt price cuts at other retailers.

MEXICO: Walmart's Mexican arm is to acquire the operations of Walmart Centroamerica. Ownership of Walmart Centroamerica was 51%-controlled by Walmart Stores, based in Arkansas, with the remaining 49% distributed among local minority shareholders.

Walmart Centroamerica has 519 stores and 11 distribution centres in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. The acquisition will add "additional growth opportunities", as well as $3.3bn (£2.02bn) of sales, said Walmart de Mexico chief executive Eduardo Solorzano.