FORMER boss of Halfords and Australian grocery giant Coles has emerged as a leading candidate for the chief executive position at Asda, as new owners, the Issa brothers, look abroad to fill the vacant post.
Asda is said to have had talks with the retail veteran Ian McLeod, who is chief executive of Dairy Farm International (DFI), an Asian retailer with 10,000 outlets spanning supermarkets and health and beauty stores, The Times reported.
McLeod, 62, was part of the team that steered Asda away from bankruptcy and towards a £6.7 billion sale to Walmart under Archie Norman and Allan Leighton in the 1990s.
Mohsin and Zuber Issa acquired Asda for £6.8bn this year with private equity firm TDR Capital.
The new owners stumped up less than £800 million of equity to do the deal, financing it mostly through £3.7bn of debt and selling off Asda’s distribution centres, the newspaper said.
The search for Asda chief executive became a priority after Roger Burnley left the post this month.
Morrisons chief executive David Potts, Tesco’s UK boss Jason Tarry and Booker’s Andrew Yaxley are said to have been approached, but are not thought to be in the running.
Meanwhile, Asda is hoping to make an appointment by the end of this year, a source close to firm told The Times.
