Two of the biggest names of British supermarkets, Sainsbury and Morrisons, have discussed the possibility of a union that would significantly change the food trade map in the United Kingdom.
Reuters reports that Sainsburys, Britain's second largest supermarket chain, held talks with rival Morrisons on a possible union this year. Discussions did not result in agreement.
According to City AM, preliminary talks were held from November 2025 to February 2026, when Sainsbury) decided to withdraw. Currently, there are no active negotiations, but the parties have not ruled out the possibility for discussions to resume in the future.
If the union were realised, the impact on the market would be great.
Worldpanel by Numerator, quoted by City AM, show that Sainsbury '%s' controls about 15.2% of the British food market, while Morrisons about 8.4%. Together they would reach approximately 23.6%, lagging behind Tesco, which controls around 27.8%.
The Guardian writes that such an agreement would almost certainly be met with a detailed review of Competition and Markets Authority, CMA, the British authority of competition. The regulator could also require the sale of several shops in areas where the presence of two companies is overlapd.
Sainsbury's well knows this obstacle. In 2019, The CMA blocked its 7.3 billion-pound plan for joining Assad, arguing that the deal could reduce competitiveness and lead to higher prices for consumers.
But the British market has changed significantly since then.
City AM reports that the growth of Aldi and Lidl has weakened the traditional model of “4 greats”, Tesco, Sainsbury, Assad and Morrisons. Analysts say empowering two German chains can also affect the way authorities would assess a future deal on Sainsburys-Morisons.
Morrisons, meanwhile, is facing a considerable debt burden after buying from the American private capital firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice in 2021. City AM reports that the company's net debt increased from 7.1 billion to 7.5 billion pounds in the year until October 2025.
Sainsbury is in a stronger position and is focusing increasingly on the main food business. In July, the company sold Argos for 120 million pounds after buying the chain about a decade ago for 1.4 billion pounds.
