ZAANDAM, The Netherlands, April 18, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- On "Barend & Van Dorp" -- a talk show on Dutch television -- on April 17, 2003, Mr. Barend stated that Cees van der Hoeven, former CEO of Ahold (NYSE:AHO), demands EUR 5 million as severance payment and EUR 5 million for repayment of his mortgage. According to Barend this information comes from the Ahold corporate office in Zaandam.
Ahold distances itself from these statements. As announced in a press release dated March 21, 2003, Ahold and Van der Hoeven did not negotiate about a severance package. Van der Hoeven did not demand any amounts for this purpose.
Parties have jointly agreed that any severance package will be left to an impartial body (arbitration tribunal) that has no ties with Ahold or Van der Hoeven.
Ahold Corporate Communications: +31 75 659 57 20
To view this press release in an Adobe (.pdf) file please see the following Link: http://reports.huginonline.com/899878/116166.pdf