Clifford Chance, the law firm, is set to collect around £3m (€4.4m) in fees for advising Safeway, the UK retailer, once the target of six potential takeovers. The figure will take total Safeway takeover costs so far to £20m.

The provision for Clifford Chance emerged in Safeway's second quarter trading statement which detailed an exceptional charge of around £13m of which £3m was for professional advice.