Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Issa brothers ‘mulling Asda-EG Group merger’

Issa brothers ‘mulling Asda-EG Group merger’

BLACKBURN’S billionaire Issa brothers are exploring a merger of EG Group with supermarket chain Asda, media reports said.

Mohsin and Zuber Issa, who own EG Group alongside TDR Capital, bought Asda last year from Walmart in a deal that valued the UK’s third-largest grocer at £6.8 billion. The acquisition also brought the Leeds-headquartered company back under British ownership.


However, Walmart holds a minority stake in Asda after the transaction was completed earlier this year.

The option of merging EG Group with Asda is at the deliberation stage and there’s no certainty that it will lead to a transaction, Bloomberg said, citing sources. The owners could also explore other options if such a merger poses legal hurdles.

Eastern Eye could not immediately reach EG Group for comment.

EG Group and Asda are together believed to be worth £26.2 bn, including the debts of the two entities.

EG Group has a total borrowing of about £7 bn, while Asda’s debts stood at £4.35 bn, according to the report.

The brother’s attempt to transfer Asda’s forecourt business to EG Group, which was expected to reduce the grocer’s debts, fell through last month.

EG is also looking to off-load its Australian forecourt business which it had acquired from Woolworths Group in 2019 in a $1.2 bn (£900 million) deal.

A potential sale of the Australian chain of 540 fuel convenience sites could now potentially bring $2 bn (£1.5 bn) to EG.

After a modest start with a single filling station in Blackburn about two decades ago, EG has grown with debt-fuelled acquisitions. Now, the group has one of the world’s largest chain of forecourts with operations in the UK, Continental Europe, the US and Australia.

More For You

India and Britain brace for impact of Trump tariff threat

India lowers duties on high-end motorcycles to 30 per cent

India and Britain brace for impact of Trump tariff threat

INDIA does not want to give any signal that it is protectionist, the top bureaucrat in the finance ministry said, after slashing import duties on high-end motorcycles, amid US president Donald Trump’s moves on tariffs.

Trump has ignited a trade war with sweeping tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China. None were aimed at India, although Trump had called it a tariff abuser during his election campaign last year.

Keep ReadingShow less
Asda-Getty

Asda, which is dealing with declining sales after a private equity-led takeover, denied any discrimination.. (Photo credit: Getty Images)

Asda staff move closer to £1.2 billion equal pay payout

THOUSANDS of Asda workers have won the latest stage in a long-running equal pay case, bringing them closer to a potential £1.2 blillion payout.

The Manchester employment tribunal ruled that 12 out of 14 lead claimants, part of a case involving 60,000 employees, had jobs of equal value to their higher-paid, mostly male counterparts working in Asda warehouses, The Guardian reported.

Keep ReadingShow less
Diageo-jw-reuters

The global beverage company is known for brands like Johnnie Walker. (Photo: Reuters)

Diageo faces challenges in life after Ivan Menezes

DIAGEO, the global beverage company known for brands like Johnnie Walker and Guinness, has encountered significant challenges following the death of CEO Sir Ivan Menezes in June 2023. Menezes, who had led the company since 2013, was succeeded by Debra Crew.

Under Crew's leadership, Diageo has faced a profits warning and adverse global consumer trends. The company's shares have declined nearly 30 per cent since her appointment.

Keep ReadingShow less
Nirmala-Sitharaman-Reuters

India's finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the annual budget on Saturday, February 1. (Photo: Reuters)

Key points from India's 2025 budget

INDIA will focus on increasing the spending power of its middle class, encouraging private investment, and promoting inclusive development, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Saturday while presenting the annual budget.

Sitharaman said the budget for 2025-26 includes measures for the poor, youth, farmers, and women. She also highlighted "transformative reforms in taxation."

Keep ReadingShow less
Shoplifting surge costs retailers record £2.2bn

In the 12 months to September 1, 2024, a total of 45,000 cases involving violence or abuse were recorded (Photo: iStock)

Shoplifting surge costs retailers record £2.2bn

SHOPLIFTING across the UK has spiked in recent months costing stores a record £2.2 billion ($2.7bn) in losses, a leading retail organisation warned.

"Retail crime is spiralling out of control," the British Retail Consortium said in its latest annual report, adding that thieves were also becoming more violent towards staff.

Keep ReadingShow less