JD.com (京东) Reportedly Considers £2 Billion Bid for UK E-commerce Platform The Very Group

On May 22, according to disclosures from multiple media outlets including Sky News and Reuters, Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com (京东) is considering a potential acquisition of the large-scale UK online retail and consumer finance platform The Very Group, with an overall valuation estimated at approximately £2 billion (about $2.69 billion). Currently, the US private equity giant Carlyle Group (凯雷集团), which holds actual control over the platform, is preparing to formally launch the sale process. This move represents JD.com's (京东) most aggressive attempt to acquire assets in the European market. It also marks the third time the company has deeply extended its reach into major British retail assets, following its previous failed bid for electricals retailer Currys and its decision to walk away from acquisition talks regarding Argos from Sainsbury's.

The Very Group, eyed by JD.com (京东), is a century-old veteran with significant weight in the UK market, tracing its history back to a mail-order catalogue business launched in 1861. The company operates two well-known online brands, Very and Littlewoods, serving approximately 4.4 million active customers with an annual revenue exceeding £2 billion, spanning nearly 2,000 brands across fashion, beauty, home, and electronics. More pivotally, the group is not a pure-play e-commerce platform; the robust growth of its high-ticket categories, such as home goods, is heavily driven by its mature in-house consumer finance business, which offers flexible "Buy Now, Pay Later" (BNPL) and other payment services via its Very Pay platform. This unique "e-commerce + financial installment" model has not only generated exceptional customer stickiness but also enabled the group to deliver a solid adjusted EBITDA of £307 million for the 2025 fiscal year.