LONDON (Reuters) - Walmart , the world's biggest retailer, has restarted talks with potential buyers of a stake in its British supermarket arm Asda, a Walmart spokesman said on Monday.

伦敦（路透社）-沃尔玛发言人周一表示，全球最大零售商沃尔玛（WMT.N）已重新与其潜在购买者就其英国超市子公司阿斯达（Asda）的股份进行谈判。

The talks had been put on hold in April so management could focus on dealing with the impact of the COVID-19 crisis.

谈判已于4月暂停，因此管理层可以专注于应对COVID-19危机的影响。

"Walmart and Asda have restarted conversations with a small number of third-party investors who are interested in acquiring a stake in Asda and partnering with Walmart, following renewed inbound interest," the spokesman said.

发言人说：“沃尔玛和阿斯达已经重启了与少数第三方投资者的对话，这些投资者有兴趣在收购阿斯达之后获得新的入股兴趣，并希望与沃尔玛建立伙伴关系。”

After Asda's attempt to combine with UK rival Sainsbury's was blocked by the competition regulator last year, Walmart said it was considering a stock market listing for Asda. Then in February, Walmart said it was in talks with possible buyers of a majority stake in the group.

去年，阿斯达（Asda）与英国竞争对手塞恩斯伯里（Sainsbury）的合并的尝试被竞争监管机构阻止后，沃尔玛表示正在考虑在阿斯达（Asda）进行股票上市。然后在2月，沃尔玛表示正在与该集团多数股权的潜在买家进行谈判。

Those talks progressed until the coronavirus hit.

谈判一直进行到冠状病毒感染为止。

"We believe now is the right time to explore options for a third party to invest in our business to accelerate the long-term delivery of our value strategy, both in stores and online," the Walmart spokesman said.

沃尔玛发言人说：“我们认为现在是探索第三方投资我们业务以加速长期实现我们的价值战略（包括在商店和网上）的合适时机，”沃尔玛发言人说。

He added that the pandemic had demonstrated Asda's resilience and the key role it plays in supporting communities in Britain.

他补充说，这一大流行证明了阿斯达的抵御能力以及它在支持英国社区方面所发挥的关键作用。

In May, Asda CEO Roger Burnley told Reuters he did not think the crisis had diminished third-party interest in the business.

今年5月，阿斯达（Asda）首席执行官罗杰·伯恩利（Roger Burnley）告诉路透社，他认为这场危机并未削弱第三方对该业务的兴趣。

(Reporting by James Davey; editing by Estelle Shirbon and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)

（James Davey的报道； Estelle Shirbon和Emelia Sithole-Matarise的编辑）