The Competition Commission has cleared Morrisons as the only high street retailer able to bid for Safeway. This new announcement rejects the potential bids of the top three UK retailers Tesco, Sainsbury's and Asda on the grounds that a successful take-over by any of them would be anti-competitive in the UK retail market.
Outside bidders will now have the opportunity to make their offers public ñ entrepreneur Philip Green the only one to have so far laid his on the table.
The omission of Asda, Tesco and Sainsbury's from the race will come as a relief to Safeway employees and suppliers alike, who have seen this outcome as the option that will have least impact on their short-term future.
More next week.
