Sainsbury’s held merger talks with Morrisons earlier this year - report

Recent reports indicate that Sainsbury's engaged in merger discussions with Morrisons between November 2025 and February 2026, as detailed in a Financial Times article. However, the potential deal was ultimately abandoned, and no active negotiations are ongoing. The merger would have resulted in a combined market share of around 24%, with Sainsbury's holding a 15.6% share and Morrisons at 8.4%, according to the latest Numerator Worldpanel data for the 12 months ending September 6.

The proposed entity would have been smaller than Tesco, which commands a 28.1% market share, but would have surpassed Asda's 11.5% market share. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) previously blocked a similar merger proposal in April 2019, as the combined entity would have held approximately 30% of the market.