Israel's Super-Sol ends talks to buy bookstore chain

JERUSALEM, Jan 1 (Reuters) - Super-Sol (SAE.TA), Israel's largest supermarket chain, said on Thursday it was no longer in negotiations to acquire 20 percent of the Steimatzky bookstore chain from the Markstone fund.

Last month, Super-Sol entered into talks to buy Steimatzky for $13 million but the Dec. 31 deadline passed with no deal.

Super-Sol, in a statement to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, did not say why talks failed. But it indicated that the parties may resume negotiations.

Super-Sol is a subsidiary of holding company IDB Development IDBD.TA. (Reporting by Steven Scheer, editing by Mike Peacock)