John Lewis denies Amazon held takeover talks for Waitrose
Rhiannon Curry
Reports had emerged that Amazon was targeting Waitrose for a potential takeover - © Jeffrey Blackler / Alamy
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The John Lewis Partnership has issued a vehement denial over claims that Amazon approached senior executives in a bid to buy Waitrose last year.
Reports emerged over the weekend suggesting that one of Amazon’s directors had made contact with a John Lewis director over a potential tie-up, but that talks were “shut down” by the board. Analysts have long suggested that Amazon could seek to buy one of the UK’s established grocery chains as an add-on to its Amazon Fresh online delivery service for food which launched in Britain two years ago.
Last year, Amazon bought Whole Foods for $13.4bn (£9.9bn), giving it a new 470-strong network of shops mostly in North America, and sparking fresh speculation that it was seeking a similar acquisition in this country.
According to The Sunday Times, Amazon approached Waitrose in November last year but Sir Charlie Mayfield, chairman of the John Lewis Partnership, refused to discuss any plans to combine the businesses.
However, the John Lewis Partnership said that no such approach had been made for Waitrose, suggesting that any contact that had occurred between the two companies was not about a potential takeover but had been made in the normal course of business.
Sir Charlie said: “These times are ripe for speculation, but there has been no approach to the partnership by Amazon regarding Waitrose, and nor would I expect there to be.”
The John Lewis Partnership has owned Waitrose since 1937 and in common with the rest of its business, the company is owned by its staff. This means that a potential sale would be particularly controversial.
The threat of Amazon’s online food offering is understood to have played a part in the proposed merger of Sainsbury’s and Asda, putting the two supermarkets in a stronger position to rival the internet giant.
Sainsbury’s has already tried to corner the homeware market by buying Argos in 2016 for £1.4bn. It has since added Argos concessions to many of its shops, hoping to encourage potential customers through the doors.