An executive for Li Ka-shing’s CK Hutchison Holdings has dismissed speculation that its supermarket chain ParknShop could merge with rival Wellcome.

Dominic Lai, CK Hutchison’s group co-managing director, was responding to a question at the company’s general meeting on Thursday, according to Indexbox.

Last month, the Financial Times reported that Jardines was in “negotiations” with CK Hutchison to acquire ParknShop and merge it with Wellcome, citing four anonymous sources familiar with the matter.

Wellcome is operated by DFI Retail, a subsidiary of Jardines.

There are about 260 branches of ParknShop across Hong Kong and Macau, and about 280 Wellcome stores, according to publicly available information from the two supermarket chains.

On Thursday, Lai reportedly praised ParknShop staff for their work amid a competitive environment.