Safeway claimed in the FT that information in the report, by analyst Cheuvreux, could only have been leaked by one of the five bidders. The Takeover Panel has already contacted all five warning them not to leak any information.

The Cheuvreux analyst ruffled Safeway's feathers when he implied that the store is too dependent on suppliers' rebate payments. 'There is nothing transient or impermanent about these payments and all our rivals – bigger and smaller – treat them the same,' a Safeway spokesperson was quoted in the FT.

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