Ahold It’s good to talk

Ahold risks scoring an own-goal. The Dutch retail giant’s refusal to talk to two hedge funds is looking like a PR victory for the shareholders that have been calling for its break-up. After months of asking and failing to engage management in discussion, Centaurus and Paulson have now started rallying support from other shareholders. Ahold may think that the problem of having awkward shareholders will just go away if it refuses to talk to them. But in fact it is much more likely to fan the rebe...