Sainsbury’s sells its non-food subsidiary Argos

The British supermarket chain Sainsbury’s is selling its omnichannel subsidiary Argos to a group of investors in order to focus more on its core business.

Nothing will change for customers

Sainsbury’s is selling Argos for 120 million pounds (approximately 140 million euros) to Swift Partners, a new investment group backed by several experienced retail executives and financiers. According to the supermarket chain, this transaction marks another important step in its strategy to focus on its core grocery business. The company recently divested several financial operations as well.

Sainsbury’s says it has transformed Argos—which generated revenue of about 4.1 billion pounds (4.8 billion euros) following its acquisition in 2016—from a traditional catalogue retailer into a leading digital enterprise serving millions of customers through its online offerings and its nationwide network of 201 Argos stores, 466 shop-in-shops at Sainsbury’s, and more than 450 pickup points. Nothing will change for customers: Argos will continue to operate within Sainsbury’s stores, continue to sell Habitat products, and will still offer Nectar points.