Argos now WON’T be sold to Chinese retail giant, owner Sainsbury’s confirms

Sainsbury’s has quit talks to sell Argos to Chinese retail giant JD.com, the supermarket group has said.

The group, which bought Argos for £1.4billion in 2016, had confirmed reports of the potential sale on Saturday.

But Sainsbury’s late on Sunday revealed there would be no deal, telling shareholders JD.com had since sought unacceptable changes to its terms.

The group said: ‘JD.com has communicated that it would now only be prepared to engage on a materially revised set of terms and commitments which are not in the best interests of Sainsbury’s shareholders, colleagues and broader stakeholders.

‘Accordingly, Sainsbury’s confirms that it has now terminated discussions with JD.com.’

Sainsbury’s takeover of Argos was supposed to help it compete with online rivals such as Amazon.

Merger: Sainsbury’s bought Argos for £1.4billion in 2016

It saw hundreds of standalone Argos stores close down as they merged inside supermarkets across the country, allowing customers to collect from the retailer while popping in for a weekly shop.

JD.com is already one of the biggest global online supermarkets with 600million annual shoppers, a £120billion turnover and 700,000 staff.

Although its current business is predominantly in Asia, where it sells food, clothing and household goods, the company has continued to progress with its global expansion plans.

JD.com’s founder and chairman Richard Qiangdong Liu is also one of China’s richest men, believed to be worth nearly £5billion.

Falling sales at Argos weighed on Sainsbury’s last year, but the group has signalled a better performance in 2025.

Sainsbury’s said on Monday: ‘Argos is the UK’s second largest general merchandise retailer, with the third most visited retail website in the UK and over 1,100 collection points.

‘Sainsbury’s is committed to delivering the strongest and most successful future for Argos customers and colleagues and our ‘More Argos, more often’ transformation strategy is delivering good progress.

‘We are taking focused action to extend range, enhance digital capabilities and improve relevance to grow frequency and spend in Argos whilst delivering further operating model efficiencies.

‘Argos has traded in line with expectations over the summer, helped by good weather, with H1 sales and profitability stronger against a period last year when Q2 sales were boosted by clearance activity.’

It added: ‘Sainsbury’s continues to have strong momentum and is focused on delivering its Next Level strategy and commitments. 

‘We continue to expect to deliver retail underlying operating profit of around £1billion and retail free cash flow of more than £500million in the financial year 2025-26.’

Sainsbury’s shares moved 3.1 per cent to 316.8p in early trading.  

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