Sainsbury’s has agreed the sale of Argos to newly-formed company Swift Partners in a £120 million deal – significantly lower than the £1.4 billion it paid to acquire the business in 2016.
Swift Partners has been established for this purpose by Richard Pennycook, Trevor Strain and Matt Truman, alongside investment and advisory firm True Capital. The new co-owners bring extensive retail experience; Pennycook is a former THG chairman and Co-op CEO and Strain is an ex-Morrisons executive, while Truman is founder and executive chair of True.
Simon Roberts, chief executive of J Sainsbury plc, said that Argos has “transformed” into a “leading multichannel retailer” but stressed that Sainsbury’s is now focusing on their core food business. “Swift brings retail leadership, operational expertise, technology capability and long-term investment, alongside a deep commitment and belief in the future potential for Argos customers and colleagues. Richard, Trevor and Matt understand and value the Argos brand, share our values and will accelerate Argos’s transformation through their dedicated expertise and long-term investment,” he added.
Why Sainsbury’s is selling
Argos has proved to be a loss-maker for Sainsbury’s, achieving negative growth of -0.5% in the most recent trading quarter. It has struggled to compete with Amazon, Shein and Temu, and has not delivered the desired customer overlap with Sainsbury’s.
With liabilities of around £250 million from its legacy store portfolio – and having offloaded Argos’ lucrative financial services card portfolio for £720 million in 2024 – Sainsbury’s has been looking for a buyer for the business. A deal was discussed with JD.com in 2025 but talks fell through.
New owners’ turnaround plans
While Argos may not have delivered for Sainsbury’s, its new owners have confidence in its growth potential as a standalone business. New owner Pennycook said: “Argos’s combination – of a strong digital business supported by standalone stores, stores inside Sainsbury’s and Local Fulfilment Centres – gives it a distinctive position in the market and an excellent platform for growth.
He added: “We hold Argos senior management in high regard and plan to build on its strengths – bringing additional experience and skills to complement and augment the existing team. We see clear potential to strengthen Argos’s customer proposition, digital capabilities and nationwide reach.”
Some analysts, however, are reserving judgment. Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at investing and trading platform IG, said:”This decision has been long in coming. Argos had long felt like a relic of the previous plan for Sainsbury’s, one that has been superseded. Now it has to flourish by itself, though whether the model works on its own in this era of Amazon and Temu is another matter.”
The deal is set to complete in February 2027, with Argos and Sainsbury’s continuing to operate as normal until then. For Sainsbury’s, the sale closes the book on a decade-long experiment; for Argos, the real test starts now.
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