Alliance Bernstein and Fidelity Investments have each made a paper profit of more than £130m (€205m) for their clients in a little over a fortnight from their stakes in Safeway. This makes them the biggest winners so far in the battle for the UK supermarket group.

The two firms are the largest shareholders in Safeway with Alliance holding 12.6% and Fidelity 12.2%, according to filings last week through the Regulatory News Service.