Morrisons has been handed a clear run at Safeway after entrepreneur Philip Green dropped out of the race.
The battle, which has been going on for more than ten months, leaves the Bradford-based chain as the only party left in a position to bid.
Green has decided against trying to add Safeway to his portfolio following talks with the Office of Fair Trading and his interest cooled further when he was told that any move to sell off surplus Safeway stores would trigger a new inquiry by regulators.
Observers are split as to where Morrisons will pitch a revised offer. The original offer of 1.32 Morrison shares for each Safeway share has since lapsed.
One analyst said: “The Safeway board recommended the Morrison offer at £2.9bn in January, so why would Morrison increase it when Safeway's performance has deteriorated?”
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