Green 'still wants Safeway'

Rivals are awaiting news about who will be able to bid for Safeway

Retail tycoon Philip Green has insisted he is still interested on bidding for supermarket chain Safeway.

Mr Green, who owns department store BHS and the Arcadia fashion chain, was quoted at the weekend as saying he would not be making a bid after studying financial information on the UK's fourth biggest grocer.

But in a statement made through his bid vehicle Trackdean Investments, Mr Green said he still remained part of the five-way bid battle for the group.

The government is expected to announce on Thursday or Friday which company will be allowed to bid for Safeway, which has been up for sale since January.

Next move

Mr Green was the only potential bidder not referred by the Office of Fair Trading for a full competition inquiry, as he has no food retailing interests.

He is expected to wait for the government's announcement before making his next move.

In a statement, he said: "On January 28 Trackdean announced that it was continuing to evaluate a possible offer for Safeway.

"The situation remains unchanged.

"A further announcement will be made if and when appropriate."

Store sell-off

Trade & Industry Secretary Patricia Hewitt is expected to give the green light only to the UK's fifth-ranked grocer, William Morrison, blocking bids from its bigger rivals Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury's.

Wal-Mart-owned Asda faces, at best, the prospect of selling off a large number of stores.

But bids from Tesco and Sainsbury's are set to be blocked over concerns they would dominate the market.

The only condition likely to be imposed on Bradford-based Morrisons is that it sells around 50 of Safeway's 480 stores in areas where the two chains overlap.

Management bid?

That could still prompt chief executive Sir Ken Morrison to lower the price that Morrisons offers for Safeway after tabling a £2.9bn offer in January.

Asda may be prepared to link up with a private equity bidder in order to acquire a tranche of stores, if its bid is blocked.

It has also been reported that Safeway's own management team may put together a proposal if bid values fail to come up to scratch.

Such a move is also likely to involve the sale of a number of stores.