Santiago, March 10 - Trading in Chilean grocer Distribucion y Servicio D&S SA has been halted on the three Chilean stock exchanges, awaiting "additional information" on the company's talks with Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the Santiago Stock Exchange said Monday.
A report in Monday's El Mercurio newspaper said Wal-Mart was eyeing the acquisition of part or all of the Chilean grocer.
Sources within the Chilean grocer and the retailing industry told the newspaper Wal-Mart wants to increase its presence in Latin America and is eyeing D&S.
The sticking point in the talks is that the Ibanez family that controls D&S seeks to maintain a stake in the local chain, while Wal-Mart aims to acquire the whole company, the newspaper reported.
In a letter to the SVS securities overseer, D&S denied any talks with Wal-Mart, adding that it didn't know anything about the information in the story or its sources.
"D&S has not had any contact with Wal-Mart or executives from that company for the purposes mentioned in said (newspaper) article," D&S general manager Enrique Ostale said in the filing.
Trading resumed at 1500 GMT, with the share jumping 3.1% in its first trades to 185.00 Chilean pesos ($0.42) per share, while the Ipsa blue-chip index was down 0.1%.
In the past 52 weeks, D&S has traded at a high of CLP305.97 and a low of CLP170.13.