Sainsbury's CFO John Rogers set to become Home Retail chief executive

Sainsbury's chief financial officer John Rogers will take charge of Argos-owner Home Retail once the supermarket chain completes a proposed £1.2bn ($1.7bn, €1.5bn) takeover later this year.

Rogers, who has been in his current role since 2010, will become Home Retail's chief executive, replacing the outgoing John Walden, who has expressed his desire to leave the company once Sainsbury's takeover is finalised.

He will be responsible for combining Sainsbury's non-food businesses with Argos' newly-adopted digital sales model and same-day home-delivery service.

"I am delighted to appoint John as chief executive of HRG [Home Retail Group] upon completion of our proposed acquisition of the business," said Sainsbury's chief executive Mike Coupe.

"John is a highly talented member of the team and has played a major role in delivering our performance and strategy at Sainsbury's and [his] expertise goes beyond his finance role."

Sainsbury's confirmed that Rogers will remain on the company's board and will continue to report to Coupe. His role at the FTSE 100 retailer will be filled on an interim basis by current Sainsbury's finance director Ed Barker.

On Thursday (9 June), the FTSE 250-listed Home Retailer confirmed it expects the deal to be completed in the third quarter of the current financial year, adding sales at Argos had grown at the fastest pace in two years in the first three months of 2016.