Supermarket giant Tesco could be poised to make a £10 billion swoop on the assets of troubled Dutch counterpart Ahold.
Tesco executives have been running a rule over Ahold and will report to chief executive Sir Terry Leahy this week, it is reported.
If Sir Terry does make an approach to Ahold, Tesco's interest in the £3 billion battle for control of Safeway is likely to fall by the wayside.
Tesco has declined to comment on the speculation, which came a week after Ahold revealed accounting problems in the United States and Argentina.
Shares in the retailer tumbled 63 per cent after it said it had overstated profits by £315 million and had accepted the resignations of its chief executive and finance director.
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