April 17 (Reuters) - Hong Kong-based Jardines is in talks with CK Hutchison to buy its supermarket division, which trades as ParknShop, and merge it with Wellcome, the Financial Times reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.
CK Hutchison's AS Watson group, which owns ParknShop, competes against conglomerate Jardines' Dairy Farm International, now known as DFI Retail, which runs Wellcome.
The market share of the combined group would be less than 50%, according to the FT report.
Reuters could not immediately verify the report. CK Hutchison declined to comment, while Jardines and DFI Retail did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
CK Hutchison is exploring an initial public offering of AS Watson and is seeking a valuation of around $30 billion for its retail unit's listings in Hong Kong and London as soon as the second quarter, two people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters in January.
(Reporting by Disha Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
