Sainsbury's to divest Argos to Swift in £120 million deal, ending a decade‑long high‑street experiment
The supermarket giant will sell the Argos brand to private‑equity firm Swift, closing the chapter that began with a £1.4 billion Home Retail Group purchase in 2016.
Sainsbury's has agreed to sell Argos to the private‑equity firm Swift for £120 million, bringing to a close a nine‑year effort to keep the catalogue retailer on the high street.
From a £1.4 billion acquisition to a modest exit
In 2016 Sainsbury's bought Home Retail Group – the owner of Argos – for about £1.4 billion. At the time Argos operated 845 standalone stores. By the time Simon Roberts became chief executive in June 2020 the number of free‑standing outlets had fallen to 573, and Roberts announced the closure of roughly 420 stores in the months that followed.
When the Swift transaction is completed Argos will be left with 201 standalone outlets and 466 concessions inside Sainsbury's supermarkets. All 34 Argos stores in the Republic of Ireland were shut in 2023.
Job cuts and the dismantling of ancillary businesses
Since 2020 around 10,000 jobs have been slated for removal across various Argos functions. The brand’s ancillary operations have also been sold off: NatWest bought Argos Financial Services’ personal‑loan, credit‑card and retail‑deposit business for £125 million in 2024; NewDay Group acquired the credit‑card portfolio; NoteMachine purchased 1,370 Argos ATMs; Fexco took over the travel‑money operation; and Allianz UK assumed the car and home‑insurance policies.
Strategic context and industry parallels
Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said the 2016 acquisition was a move to diversify Sainsbury's beyond grocery retail. Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG, described Argos as a relic of an outdated strategy.
Other UK retailers have taken similar steps away from non‑core activities. Tesco sold its banking division to Barclays and is weighing a pull‑back from Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Marks & Spencer disposed of its banking arm to HSBC and is closing larger clothing stores to focus on weekly food offerings and online clothing sales.
Sainsbury's broader transformation
Beyond the Argos exit, Sainsbury's continues to reshape its portfolio. The supermarket chain launched the Smart Charge electric‑vehicle charging network in 2024 and retains its Tu clothing and Habitat home‑wares brands within its stores. Habitat, expanded to five standalone stores in 2018, saw all such stores close by 2023, leaving only concessions and online sales.
The retailer now runs 609 supermarkets and 885 convenience stores, up from 598 supermarkets and 813 convenience stores in 2020/21. It has also purchased ten former Homebase sites to convert into supermarkets, echoing its earlier involvement with Homebase – a chain it owned before selling in 2000 that entered administration the previous year while under Wesfarmers’ ownership.
Ownership changes
In December 2025 the Qatar Investment Authority sold its nearly 20‑year stake in Sainsbury's, which had been the supermarket’s largest shareholding.
The Argos sale marks the final stage of Sainsbury's retreat from standalone general‑merchandise retail, allowing the group to concentrate on its core grocery and convenience operations.
