OFT Submission

Sainsbury(J) PLC
20 January 2003


Not for release, publication or distribution in or into Australia, Canada, Japan
or the United States


                                                                 20 January 2003


                                J Sainsbury plc

                           OFT Submission made today


J Sainsbury plc today submitted to the OFT its application for clearance of its
possible offer for Safeway plc.

Sir Peter Davis said 'This submission puts our proposed bid on to the OFT's
targeted 45 working day timetable, along with the other bidders. As the other
bids are raising similar issues, we would like to be considered alongside their
applications, in the same way and within the same timetable.'



Enquiries

Jan Shawe                    020 7695 6000




The availability of any offer for Safeway, if made, to persons not resident in
the United Kingdom may be affected by the laws of the relevant jurisdictions in
which they are located. Persons who are not resident in the United Kingdom or
who are subject to other jurisdictions should inform themselves of, and observe,
any applicable requirements.

In particular, unless otherwise determined by Sainsbury's and permitted by
applicable law and regulation, it is not intended that any offer for Safeway, if
made, would be made, directly or indirectly, in or into, or by use of the mails
of, or by any means or instrumentality (including, without limitation,
telephonically or electronically) of interstate or foreign commerce of, or of
any facility of a national securities exchange of, Australia, Canada, Japan or
the United States and any such offer would not be capable of acceptance by any
such use, means, instrumentality or facility or from or within Australia,
Canada, Japan or the United States.

Each of UBS Warburg and Goldman Sachs International is acting for Sainsbury's in
connection with the Possible Offer and no one else and will not be responsible
to anyone other than Sainsbury's for providing the protections offered to
clients respectively of UBS Warburg and Goldman Sachs International as the case
may be nor for providing advice in relation to the Possible Offer.


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