Credit Suisse First Boston has finally won an advisory role in the battle over UK supermarket Safeway, advising Waitrose, an upmarket UK supermarket chain, on its acquisition of 18 Safeway stores.

Waitrose, which is owned by the John Lewis Partnership, has bought assets with a book value of £158m (€235m) in an all-cash deal. The sale is part of a 52-store sell-off from UK supermarket group William Morrison that bought the Safeway portfolio for £3bn last year.