Asda poised to buy Argos

Supermarket chain Asda is said to be eying up Argos owner Home Retail Group in a bid to close the gap on its rival Tesco.

According to reports , Asda is looking to buy the retail chain, which also owns the Homebase the home furnishings chain, to gain a greater share of the general merchandise market.

The supermarket has also reportedly looked at a number of other high street and out-of-town retail chains, including high street fashion chain New Look.

Recent figures from Kantar Worldpanel reveal that Asda was the only one of the big four supermarket chains to see declining market share in the 12 weeks to March 21 slipping from 17.3% to 17.1%.

Last week, the supermarket revealed an initiative to get Asda mums involved in the election by blogging on the Your Asda site about politics.

In January, Argos revealed a new brand identity, its first in 10 years in a bid to modernise the chain.