Ocado Group has walked away from a long-running fight to collect roughly £190 million it believed it was owed by Marks & Spencer, ending one of the more contentious disputes between the two retail partners.
Published July 28, 2026 · 4 min read · Wall Street Sights Business Desk
Quick Answer
Ocado Group (LSE: OCDO) has dropped its pursuit of a £190.7 million payment from Marks & Spencer (LSE: MKS) tied to their Ocado Retail joint venture. The Times reported the two companies have quietly settled the years-long dispute, with M&S making no final payment.
Key Takeaways
- Ocado has abandoned its claim to a £190.7 million payment from M&S linked to their 50-50 online grocery joint venture, Ocado Retail.
- The dispute centered on performance targets the joint venture was supposed to hit by November 2023, which it missed.
- Ocado had previously threatened legal action, calling the dispute a matter it was “very confident” would end in its favor.
- M&S had valued the disputed liability at zero in its own accounts.
- The two companies are reportedly now focused on expanding warehouse capacity and order volumes instead.
What Happened
In 2019, M&S paid Ocado £562 million upfront for a 50% stake in Ocado Retail, the joint venture that lets M&S sell its food range through Ocado.com. The deal also included a second, contingent payment of up to £190.7 million, due if the joint venture hit certain undisclosed performance targets by the year ending November 2023.
Those targets were not met. Ocado argued the shortfall should be judged differently because of disruption during the Covid-19 pandemic, and pushed for the payment anyway. M&S disagreed and recorded the liability at zero. Ocado’s chief executive, Tim Steiner, told shareholders in 2024 the company was “very confident” it was owed a substantial sum and warned it would pursue “all available means,” including legal action, to collect.
According to The Times, that pursuit has now ended quietly, with sources saying no final payment will be made.
Why It Matters
Ocado Retail is a real business with real numbers behind it: the joint venture reported close to £1.8 billion in sales in the first half of 2026 alone, a 15% increase from the year before. A near-£200 million dispute between the two partners that jointly run it was a genuine overhang for both sides, and dropping it removes a source of friction just as the venture is trying to grow.
The timing is notable. Ocado’s own half-year results told a mixed story: the group reported a £33 million loss after tax in the first half of 2026, a steep reversal from a £605 million profit in the same period a year earlier, driven by weaker performance in its technology and robotics division. Settling the M&S dispute removes one distraction while Ocado works through pressure elsewhere in the business.
A New Sticking Point
Dropping the payout claim hasn’t resolved every tension between the partners. Reports indicate M&S has not committed to funding new warehouse capacity or increasing order volumes with Ocado unless it gets improved commercial terms. That gives the two companies a fresh negotiation to work through even as the older dispute closes.
What Investors Are Watching
For Ocado shareholders, the bigger story remains the technology and robotics division’s performance, not the M&S settlement itself. For M&S shareholders, the joint venture’s sales growth and the outcome of the warehouse-capacity talks matter more than a payment that was already valued at zero on the company’s books. Neither side is walking away with a windfall or a loss from this specific settlement — the real financial questions sit elsewhere in both businesses.
FAQ
Why did Ocado drop the £190m claim?
Reports indicate both companies decided to draw a line under the dispute rather than continue pursuing litigation, with no final payment being made by M&S.
What is Ocado Retail?
It’s a 50-50 joint venture between Ocado Group and Marks & Spencer, formed in 2019, that lets M&S sell its food range through Ocado’s online delivery platform.
Did this affect Ocado or M&S stock?
The dispute’s resolution was one factor among several in each company’s news flow this week; investors were also weighing Ocado’s wider half-year results, including its technology division’s performance.
Sources
- City AM — Ocado lets Marks & Spencer off hook in £190m payout dispute
- MarketScreener — Ocado Said to Drop £190 Million Payout Dispute
- The Grocer — Ocado Group drops battle for £190m from M&S
This article is for general information and is not personalized financial or investment advice.
Sarah Mitchell covers U.S. and global stock markets for Wall Street Sights, focusing on how earnings, Federal Reserve policy, and macroeconomic events move major indexes.
