The newspaper cited anonymous sources with knowledge of the deal. Apax and RFS declined comment.

Privately held RFS operates Wehkamp.nl, originally a popular mail-order catalogue, and household goods retailer Fonq.nl. Both compete against the dominant web store Bol.com, owned by Ahold (>> KONINKLIJKE AHOLD), with Amazon (>> Amazon.com, Inc.) only a minor player in the Netherlands.

Wehkamp made headlines in 2013 when it announced plans to spend 80 million euros to build what it said would be the world's largest automated distribution system, able to deliver 80,00 packages a day.

In 2014 RFS reported operating profit of 29 million euros on sales of 498 million euros.

($1 = 0.9012 euros)

(Reporting by Toby Sterling; Editing by David Goodman)

Stocks treated in this article : Amazon.com, Inc., KONINKLIJKE AHOLD