Morrison 'may have to up offer for Safeway'

Supermarket group Wm Morrison, which last week received the go-ahead to bid for rival Safeway, may be forced to raise its offer to £3.5bn (€5bn), it was reported today.

Morrison sparked the takeover battle in January with a £2.9bn (€4.1bn) offer and is in pole position to land Safeway after the UK government blocked rival bids from the big three supermarkets – Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury’s – on competition grounds on Friday.