Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on September 13, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleSainsbury's is negotiating with JD.com to sell Argos, aiming to enhance growth and customer experience. No final agreement yet.
By James Davey
LONDON (Reuters) - British supermarket group Sainsbury's is in talks with Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com about selling the Argos general merchandise retailer it bought for 1.1 billion pounds ($1.5 billion) in 2016.
Sainsbury's, which has been focusing more on food since Simon Roberts became CEO in 2020, said on Saturday a deal with JD.com would accelerate Argos’ transformation.
"JD.com would bring world-class retail, technology and logistics expertise and invest to drive Argos’ growth and further transform the customer experience," Sainsbury's said.
It said any sale would include commitments from JD.com in relation to Argos for the benefit of customers, workers and partners.
"No agreement has been reached and there is no certainty at this stage that any transaction will proceed," it said.
JD.com declined to comment.
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, Britain's second largest supermarket group, trailing only Tesco, added that it was committed to delivering the most successful future for Argos, with its current strategy for the business delivering "solid progress".
Sainsbury's has a market capitalisation of 7 billion pounds ($9.5 billion), while Nasdaq-listed JD.com is valued at $48 billion.
China's largest online retailer has been seeking to expand outside of its home market.
It's 2.2 billion euro takeover of German electricals retailer Ceconomy is currently being considered by regulators.
Last year, JD.com considered an offer for British electricals retailer Currys but walked away.
($1 = 0.7377 pounds)
(Reporting by James Davey; Editing by Sharon Singleton and Peter Graff)
Sainsbury's is in talks to sell Argos, the general merchandise retailer it acquired for 1.1 billion pounds.
JD.com would provide world-class retail, technology, and logistics expertise, along with investments to drive Argos' growth.
No agreement has been reached, and there is no certainty that any transaction will proceed at this stage.
Sainsbury's has a market capitalization of 7 billion pounds, which is approximately $9.5 billion.
JD.com is China's largest online retailer and is valued at $48 billion, actively seeking to expand outside its home market.
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