LONDON, Aug 19 (Reuters) - British supermarket group Morrisons (MRW.L) on Thursday agreed a takeover offer worth 7.0 billion pounds ($9.54 billion) from U.S. private equity group Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R), dropping its recommendation of a lower bid from the Fortress-led consortium. Morrisons said CD&R"s offer is worth 285 pence a share, trumping a 272 pence a share offer, worth 6.7 billion pounds, from a consortium led by Softbank (9984.T) owned Fortress Investment Group. read more The battle for Britain"s fourth-largest grocer after Tesco (TSCO.L), Sainsbury"s (SBRY.L) and Asda, is the most high-profile looming takeover amid a raft of bids and counter bids, reflecting private equity"s appetite for UK Plc. read more CD&R"s agreed bid represents a 60% premium to Morrisons" share price before takeover interest emerged in mid June. Morrisons" share price closed Thursday at 279.2 pence, indicating investors expected a higher bid. CD&R, which has former Tesco boss Terry Leahy as a senior adviser, had a 230 pence a share proposal worth 5.52 billion pounds rejected by Morrisons on June 17. read more Morrisons subsequently recommended a bid from Fortress worth 6.3 billion pounds, which was then raised to 6.7 billion pounds after major shareholders, including Silchester, M&G and Hambro, indicated they wanted more. CD&R"s track record of UK investments includes foodservice group Brakes Brothers and discount retailer B&M (BMEB.L). Current investments include petrol forecourt retailer Motor Fuel Group (MFG) and industrial groups Wolseley and SIG. ($1 = 0.7335 pounds)