Supermarket giant Tesco weighs shock takeover bid for Majestic Wine

Tesco is exploring a surprise move to buy Majestic Wine Group, Britain's biggest specialist wine chain - a deal which would further expand the supermarket giant's retail footprint.

Sky News has learnt that Tesco is among the bidders participating in an auction of Majestic Wine.

A formal sale process kicked off several weeks ago, roughly six months after Majestic's owner, Fortress Investment Group, appointed bankers to explore its options for the business.

The value of a prospective deal was unclear this weekend, although analysts said that Majestic's recent performance meant a sale would generate hundreds of millions of pounds for its owners.

A number of other bidders are also involved in the process, although their identities were unclear on Saturday.

Tesco's interest in Majestic comes during an anxious period for British retailers, with chancellor John Healey having pledged that his Budget later this month would ease "the cost of doing business".

For Tesco, a deal would push it much deeper into the sale of wine and spirits across Britain.

Run by chief executive Ken Murphy, Tesco has rarely explored corporate acquisitions in recent years.

Its last major deal was in 2018 when it completed a £3.7bn takeover of Booker, the food wholesaler.

Prior to that, it had been focused on disposing of assets in the wake of the crisis which engulfed it in 2014, when an overstatement of profits sparked a Serious Fraud Office probe and questions about its survival.

Tesco remains the biggest grocery retailer in Britain by far, with a roughly 28% share of the UK market.

Its international retrenchment, which began more than a decade ago, continues, with the Financial Times reporting during the summer that it is in talks to sell its remaining European operations.

Majestic trades from a network of more than 200 stores across the UK and Jersey, employing more than 1,000 people.

Majestic Wine was separated from Naked Wines, the online wine retailer, when Fortress acquired most of the business for £95m in 2019.

Naked Wines remains listed on the London Stock Exchange but is now a stock market minnow, with a market capitalisation of less than £45m.

Under Fortress's ownership, Majestic Wine has undergone an ambitious transformation programme since the acquisition, with new store openings, improvements to product ranges and an expansion of the brand's online presence all having been prioritised.

The chain has opened more than 20 additional sites since 2019, with further openings planned alongside a strategy to grow its commercial business-to-business operation.

Two years ago, Majestic swooped to acquire Vagabond Wines, a chain of bars, out of administration, for an undisclosed sum.

It also operates the brand Enotria, which it bought last year.

Through Enotria and its commercial business, Majestic Wine has become one of the largest wine and spirits suppliers in the UK, partnering with gastropubs, bars, restaurants, hotels and other hospitality venues.

One analyst suggested that this could mean Tesco pursued a takeover of Majestic Wine via its Booker arm.

Earlier this year, Majestic Wine hailed its best-ever Christmas trading period, saying it had served nearly 11% more customers during the 2025-26 festive season than it had a year earlier.

Fortress has placed a significant bet on the UK consumer in recent years, snapping up the discount retailer Poundstretcher and bar chain Loungers, which had been publicly traded in London.

Poundstretcher has been named as a possible suitor for rival Poundland.

(c) Sky News 2026: Supermarket giant Tesco weighs shock takeover bid for Majestic Wine