Carlyle is expected to shelve plans to sell The Very Group after potential buyers, including JD.com, failed to meet the private equity firm’s £2 billion minimum asking price.
The auction process, launched earlier this year, is now unlikely to proceed, leaving Carlyle as the owner of the British online retailer for the foreseeable future, according to Sky News.
Sources said that running a sale process had been a condition of the change of control that brought The Very Group under Carlyle’s ownership following a financial restructuring.
Alongside the Telegraph newspapers and London’s Ritz hotel, The Very Group had previously formed part of the Barclay family’s broader business empire before its collapse.
Sources noted that while Carlyle was obligated to launch an auction, that obligation did not require the firm to sell at any price, with £2 billion understood to be the minimum it would accept.
Carlyle acquired The Very Group for just £1 in November 2025 after PricewaterhouseCoopers was appointed as administrator to VGL Holdco, enabling the long-standing creditor to assume ownership of the retailer for a nominal sum.
The collapse of the Barclay family’s retail holdings came amid a broader implosion of their business empire, triggered by a dispute with Lloyds Banking Group over unpaid debts.
The Very Group sells fashion, beauty, homeware, and electrical goods through its Very and Littlewoods brands, serving around 4.4 million customers with annual revenue exceeding £2 billion.
Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com was among the serious prospective bidders but has grown reluctant to pursue another major transaction while its proposed acquisition of German electronics retailer Ceconomy remains under regulatory scrutiny in Europe.
The Very Group’s interim results, covering the 39 weeks ending March 28, 2026, showed retail revenue growing 0.1 percent year-on-year to £1 billion, with its sports category delivering 7.5 percent growth.
However, its overall fashion segment dropped 4.5 percent in what the company described as a “tough market,” adding pressure to an already complicated sales process.
Group retail sales, including revenue from its Littlewoods and Very Ireland brands, also fell 1.6 percent to £1.2 billion during the same period.
Carlyle and The Very Group have yet to comment publicly on the fate of the auction or their plans for the business going forward.
