Sainsbury's Held Merger Talks With Morrisons Earlier This Year

Yahoo Finance UK·5 Oct 2026·

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M&A · Partnership Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail

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Sainsbury's held preliminary talks about a possible merger with Morrisons between November and February, but the UK's second-largest supermarket subsequently walked away from a deal. A combination would have created a supermarket group with almost a quarter of Britain's grocery market, putting it within striking distance of Tesco. Sainsbury's has a 15.2pc share of the market while Morrisons accounts for 8.4pc, according to Worldpanel by Numerator, giving them a combined 23.6pc against Tesco's 27.8pc. The FT reported on Monday that the companies had held preliminary discussions about a combination, although there are no active talks between the two sides, and any deal would face close scrutiny from the Competition and Markets Authority. The revelation comes seven years after the competition watchdog blocked Sainsbury's £7.3bn attempt to buy Asda, and since then Aldi and Lidl have continued to expand rapidly, taking a combined 19pc of the grocery market. Morrisons was bought by private equity group Clayton, Dubilier & Rice in 2021, a deal that saddled the company with a large debt burden, leaving it with £7.5bn of net debt at the end of its latest financial year. Sainsbury's and Morrisons declined to comment.

J Sainsbury PLC ±