Dutch supermarket group Ahold and Belgium’s Delhaize are to join forces in what they say is a ‘merger of equals’.

However, 61% of the shares in the new company will be in Ahold’s hands, the rest with the Belgian group.

The combined group, which will be known as Ahold Delhaize, will operate 6,500 stores and have a workforce of 375,000.

Ahold’s chief executive Dick Boer will lead the new firm and Mats Jansson, CEO at Delhaize, will chair the supervisory board.

The two companies expect the merger to save some €500m a year and be completed in a year’s time.

‘Our companies share common values, proud histories rooted in family entrepreneurship, and businesses that complement each other well,’ Boer said in a statement.

Ahold is the bigger of the two partners with annual sales of €33bn, compared with Delhaize’s €21bn. The new combine will be the fourth biggest supermarket group in Europe and the fifth biggest in the US.