Ocado has dropped a legal battle with Marks & Spencer over a disputed £190million performance payout related to the online supermarket.

M&S will not make a final payment after Ocado Retail – the 50/50 online joint venture between Ocado and M&S – failed to meet targets originally laid out in 2019.

The targets were part of the terms of the £750million partnership, which allowed M&S to sell food online for the first time.

Ocado boss Tim Steiner had argued that factors such as the Covid pandemic should have been taken into account when considering why Ocado failed to meet its targets.

A spokesman for M&S said: ‘We have a good relationship with Ocado.’