Tesco is reportedly considering a bid to acquire Majestic Wine Group, the United Kingdom’s largest specialist wine retailer, which has been placed on the market by its private equity owner. The potential transaction follows the launch of a formal sales process initiated several weeks ago by Fortress Investment Group, which has owned Majestic since 2019.

Majestic Wine Group operates over 210 stores across the UK, selling a range of wines and beers to retail customers. In addition to its retail footprint, the company runs a wholesale division supplying alcohol to bars and restaurants. Majestic also owns the Vagabond chain of pour-your-own wine bars, which Chief Executive John Colley projects will expand to 25 locations by 2030.

Fortress acquired Majestic for £95 million seven years ago and subsequently separated it from Naked Wines, an online wine subscription business. Naked Wines remains independently listed on the London Stock Exchange, though its market capitalization is currently around £41 million.

According to Majestic’s most recent financial statements for the year ending March 2025, the group generated sales of £386.2 million, consistent with the previous year. However, profits dropped by nearly half to £7.8 million, a decline attributed by company officials to increased costs driven by government tax and policy changes, including a rise in the national minimum wage.

The exact valuation Tesco might have to meet to secure Majestic remains unclear, but sources indicate that Fortress expects to generate proceeds in the “hundreds of millions of pounds” from the sale. Since Fortress’s acquisition, Majestic’s annual sales volume has grown by approximately one-third.

An acquisition of Majestic would mark a notable expansion for Tesco in the wine and spirits sector. Under Chief Executive Ken Murphy, the retailer has pursued relatively few corporate acquisitions in recent years, with the notable exception of the £3.7 billion purchase of food wholesaler Booker in 2017 and the 2023 acquisition of stationery brand Paperchase out of administration. Conversely, Tesco has divested several businesses in the past decade, including the garden centre chain Dobbies and the Harris + Hoole coffee shops, the latter following an accounting scandal in 2014.

Neither Tesco, Majestic Wine Group, nor Fortress Investment Group commented on the reports regarding the potential acquisition.