EG Group acquires UK’s biggest KFC franchise

LEADING forecourt operator EG Group on Wednesday (11) announced the acquisition of KFC franchise from Belfast-headquartered Herbert Group.

The deal is for the largest KFC franchise in the UK and Ireland and includes 146 KFC Restaurants and 1 Pizza Hut Store, in addition to a development pipeline and a small number of non-trading sites.

Zuber Issa, founder and co-chief executive officer (CEO) of EG Group said: “Securing the Herbert Group portfolio is well aligned to our long-term strategic growth plans and builds on our commitment to grow the EG Group’s presence in the food-to-go retail convenience segment.

“The Herbert Group portfolio is a great strategic addition and complements our expanding operations in the United Kingdom and furthermore, now allows us entry into the Irish market.”

The rapidly expanding EG Group now operates over 1,500 food-to-go retail concessions across ten international markets including the UK, Ireland, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Italy, Germany, the US, and Australia.

Issa noted: “We are committed to working closely with the KFC brand team to invest in the portfolio we are acquiring, and to open new restaurants. There is already a strong development pipeline for us to work towards developing.”

The Blackburn-based group also announced a deal on Wednesday to acquire Oliver’s Real Food in Australia, a chain of 24 sites providing a healthy fast food alternative on Australia’s major arterial highways.

The ‘EG’ in Zuber and Mohsin Issa’s globally successful EG Group stands for ‘Euro Garages’ and sounds impressively strategic, yet their multi-billion-pound business began with the opening of a single forecourt on Brandlesholme Road, Bury, in 1995.

The brothers were placed in the ninth position in the Eastern Eye Asian Rich List 2019 with an estimated worth of £1.5 billion.

The Asian Rich List profiles the top 101 wealth creators of Asian origin in Britain.

Backed by private equity firm TDR Capital, EG has built a forecourt empire across nearly 6,000 locations.