Asda owners in talks to sell petrol station chain

ASDA’S billionaire owners are in talks to sell their global petrol forecourts business, according to reports.

Mohsin and Zuber Issa have held discussions with Canadian convenience store giant Couche-Tard over a deal that would value EG Group at £12.7billion including debt, the Wall Street Journal said. It is understood no deal has yet been agreed and the talks could fall through.

A sale of the group could help pave the way for the Issa brothers and their private equity partners TDR Capital to acquire Boots from Walgreens Boots Alliance. Final bids for Boots are due this month.

They are thought to be among the most likely candidates to buy the chemist chain. Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani is also reported to be sizing up a bid with private equity giant Apollo Global Management.

TDR owns a stake in EG Group alongside the Issas. It was founded by the brothers in 2001 in Greater Manchester. TDR and the brothers then bought Asda for £6.8 billion in 2020. EG Group has grown rapidly through a takeover spree over the past few years and has 6,000 sites across multiple countries.

A combined EG Group and Couche-Tard would have £56 billion in annual revenue.

Couche-Tard runs 7,000 convenience stores in the US and as many elsewhere. It was last year reported to be the frontrunner to buy EG Group.

The Issa brothers have also considered merging it with Asda or spinning off EG Group in a stock market float.