|[Letterhead of D&S]
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|Santiago, January 2, 2003.
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|Mr. Alvaro Clarke de la Cerda Superintendent
Superintendency of Securities and Insurance Av. Libertador Bernardo OHiggins 1449
Santiago
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|Ref.: Securities Register No.
0593 Notice of Material Event
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|Of our consideration:
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|In accordance with the provisions of articles 9
and 10, insertion 2, of the Law No. 18,045, and General Resolution No. 30 of that
Superintendency, and in exercise of the powers granted, I hereby inform of the following
material event.
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|D&S has an account receivable amounting to US $90 million
      from Disco S.A., an Argentina based company, and from a Royal Ahold subsidiary
      governed by the Netherland Antilles law, with maturity in May of 2003, which
      is derived from the balance of the price agreed upon in the stock purchase
      agreement pertaining the sale of D&S operation in Argentina. As
      guarantor, Royal Aholds subsidiary explicitly undertook the obligation
      of payment in United States dollar bills. However, Royal Ahold has officially
      stated through its Vice President of Legal Affairs, on letter dated December
      30, 2002, that it will attempt to submit this payment to the Argentine regulatory
      rules on currency exchange convertibility, which mandate payment obligations
      in US dollars to be paid in nominal Argentine pesos. If such rules were
      applied, the total debt would amount to US$ 38 million, a fluctuating value
      which should be determined in May 2003 by applying the statutory adjustments
      contained in the same rules.
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|Distribución y Servicio D&S S.A. does not
accept this attempt from the off-shore Royal Ahold subsidiary to submit payment to such
currency exchange rules which are not applicable to a company off-Argentina. Therefore, D&S
has retained legal council in Chile, Argentina and The Netherlands for the analysis of
this situation in order to carry out all legal actions available to ensure full
compliance of payment obligations under the terms they were undertaken. Notwithstanding
the above, any difference in full payment of this obligation to D&S, would not have
any material effect on the course of the Company operations, nor would it compromise in
any way the timely compliance of its financial obligations.
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|/s/ Cristóbal LiraCristóbal Lira Chief Executive Officer
Distribución y Servicio D&S S.A.
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|Distribucion y Servicio D&S S.A. 
      Avda. Presidente Eduardo Frei Montalvo 8301, Quilicura 
      Santiago de Chile 
      Fono 56-2-200 5000       Fax 56-2 624 2979
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