Waterstones owner Elliott Advisors is reportedly the latest to be considering weighing into the potential $2bn+ (£1.5bn) takeover of Liverpool ecommerce giant The Very Group.
US-based Elliott, which was previously in the race to buy UK electrical goods giant Currys in 2024, has expressed interest in the deal, which would pit it against rival bidders including China’s JD.com, Sky News reports.
As Prolific North reported at the end of last month, the Chinese ecommerce giant was also reportedly mulling a potential £2bn takeover of the online retailer and successor to Littlewoods Catalogue as it steps up its efforts to strengthen its foothold in the UK market having, like Elliott, ended its own efforts to acquire high street and online electricals player Currys empty handed.
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The Carlyle Group acquired control of The Very Group in late 2025, ending the Barclay family’s long-standing involvement in the business as the Barclay’s own fortunes waned having lost control of the Telegraph Group. Carlyle then almost immediately announced it was planning a £2 billion sale of the company via a January 2026 filing with Companies House.
In February, the group strengthened its balance sheet after extending key debt facilities to 2030 and reducing its overall debt by £150m ahead of a potential sale.
The Very Group was founded in 2005 following a merger of Littlewoods and Shop Direct, both of which had been acquired by the Barclay brothers – Sir Frederick and the late David Barclay – in 2002 and 2004 respectively.
The Barclays’ business empire has been increasingly affected by suffered financial troubles in recent years, however, and their high-profile loos of control at the Telegraph Media Group in 2023 after failing to pay back loans to Lloyds Banking Group seems to have acted as a catalyst for further fragmentation.
The family also sold off delivery company Yodel in February 2024 as part of a larger “fire sale” of assets to relieve financial pressures on the business.
The Very Group has so far declined to comment.Neither The Very Group nor Elliott have so far made official comment on the reports.
