Sainsbury’s ends Argos sale talks with JD.com

Sainsbury’s has ended talks with Chinese retailer JD.com over a potential sale of its Argos business after revised conditions were deemed unacceptable.

The supermarket said JD.com was only prepared to continue discussions on “a materially revised set of terms and commitments” that it judged were not in the interests of shareholders, staff or wider stakeholders.

Talks with the Chinese retail giant were said to have begun over the weekend as Sainsbury’s said the deal would have helped speed up the transformation of Argos.

Argos is the UK’s second largest general merchandise retailer, with more than 1,100 collection points and one of the most visited retail websites in the country. Sainsbury’s added it is committed to delivering the “strongest and most successful” future for Argos customers and colleagues and its ‘More Argos, more often’ transformation strategy is delivering “good progress”.

It added it was 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.

Sainsbury’s also confirmed 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

Sainsbury’s also reaffirmed guidance for the 2025/26 financial year, expecting retail underlying operating profit of about £1bn and free cash flow above £500m.