UK’s Sainsbury’s in talks to sell Argos to China’s JD.com

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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)