Sainsbury’s Agrees £120 Million Sale of Argos to Swift Partners

Sainsbury’s has reached an agreement to sell retailer Argos to Swift Partners for £120 million, marking the end of a lengthy effort by the supermarket group to divest the business and concentrate on its core grocery operations.

The supermarket chain said the transaction would not affect customers, employees or suppliers, stressing that it would be “business as usual” for the retailer. Argos will continue operating inside Sainsbury’s stores, selling Habitat products and participating in the Nectar loyalty programme.

Swift Partners, the acquiring company, was established specifically for the purchase and includes former Co-operative Group chief executive Richard Pennycook.

Argos currently operates 667 stores across the UK, comprising 201 standalone outlets and 466 branches located within Sainsbury’s supermarkets. The retailer also runs more than 450 collection points.

Established in 1973, Argos built its reputation on its catalogue-based shopping model, where customers browsed products before collecting purchases from in-store stockrooms. The once-iconic printed catalogue, famously described by comedian Bill Bailey as the “laminated book of dreams,” has since been replaced by digital browsing platforms and online shopping.

Sainsbury’s has sought to dispose of Argos for several years, with the retailer widely viewed as underperforming within the group’s portfolio.

The supermarket acquired Argos, Habitat and other Home Retail Group brands in 2016 in a £1.4 billion deal. It later sold Argos Financial Services, which operates the Argos Card, for approximately £720 million in 2024.

Negotiations to sell the remaining Argos business to Chinese online retailer JD.com collapsed in September last year.

Sainsbury’s Chief Executive Simon Roberts confirmed that all of Argos’ nearly 14,000 employees would transfer to Swift Partners under the agreement.

He also said Argos would continue trading from Sainsbury’s stores, Nectar would remain available across both businesses, and Habitat products would continue to be sold through Sainsbury’s.

Commenting on the acquisition, Richard Pennycook said he believes “strongly in Argos’s future and see real opportunities to invest and build on its progress.”

The transaction is expected to be completed in February next year.

Pennycook also indicated there could be opportunities to open additional standalone Argos stores and did not rule out the possibility of reviving the retailer’s printed catalogue.

Retail analyst Catherine Shuttleworth said Argos had become a “distraction” from Sainsbury’s primary focus on food retailing.

She said that under dedicated ownership, the business has the potential to become a “really digital-first business.”

Shuttleworth praised the retailer’s mobile app and its same-day click-and-collect service, saying the model enables Argos to give a “bloody nose” to online competitors such as Amazon.

Retail analyst Clive Black questioned whether Argos had ever been “wholly aligned” with Sainsbury’s grocery operations and described the supermarket group’s efforts to sell the retailer as “challenging and prolonged.”

He also said Argos had been a “suboptimal performer from a financial perspective.”

Sainsbury’s latest quarterly trading update showed group sales rising 3.1% during the first three months of the year, although Argos sales declined by 0.5% over the same period.

Bally Auluk, national officer at trade union Usdaw, acknowledged that the sale would create uncertainty for employees but welcomed Swift Partners’ commitment to “keeping the model of store in stores, standalone stores and local fulfilment centres.”