THEY are now almost in a league of their own – at least when it comes to food retailing.
Mohsin and Zuber Issa, made their entry into the big league of UK retail by purchasing Asda, a high street heavyweight in October 2020.
The brothers also took on fast food outlet Leon under their EG Group in April 2021, after it was badly scarred during the pandemic. It has already expanded across the country since restrictions were eased this year. John Vincent, one of the founders, along with Henry Dimbleby and Allegra McEvedy, said the brand was in good hands. “Mohsin and Zuber will not just be superb custodians of the Leon brand, through EG Group they have the vision, investment appetite, food service expertise and network scale to take Leon to many more people and places,” he said.
The pair also added sports wear brand Castore to their business interests in February 2022. Last year, the Issas were both awarded a CBE.
The original £6.8 billion Asda deal, in partnership with private equity group TDR Capital, has enabled the Blackburn-based brothers to take Asda back under British ownership for the first time since 1999, when Walmart paid £6.7bn for the business.
The Issas plan to invest more than £1bn in the next couple years in Asda to keep prices low and to protect its supply chains. “After a successful period as part of Walmart, we are looking forward to helping Asda build a differentiated business that will continue to serve customers brilliantly in communities across the UK,” they said.
The Indian-origin brothers are known for the fast-expanding forecourt operator EG Group, which now runs almost 6,000 sites across three continents. Initially called Euro Garages, the brothers founded the group in 2001, acquiring a single petrol filling station in Bury, Greater Manchester. Their parents came to the UK from Gujarat, India, in the 1960s. They attended their local comprehensive school in Blackburn and began their careers working in their father’s local petrol station.
Big ticket acquisitions are not new for the enterprising brothers. They branched out across the pond and Down Under in 2018, by acquiring 762 convenience stores from Kroger, the largest supermarket chain in the US, and the petrol business of Woolworths Group, Australia’s no 1 retailer. They have since expanded the US network to over 1,700 stores across the country, operating in 33 states and retailing more than 2.5 billion gallons of fuel with merchandise sales of more than $3bn (£2.26bn) on an annualised basis.
Earlier in 2015, the brothers established themselves as a major independent forecourt retailer in the UK following a series of significant acquisitions from oil majors ExxonMobil and Shell. EG Group is the largest single retail branded wholesaler customer globally for ExxonMobil. The group has recently strengthened their offering in the UK with acquisitions of a major Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise and a licensing deal with US bakery brand Cinnabon.
Mohsin and Zuber have founded the EG Foundation (corporate) and ISSA Foundation (personal), which supports individuals, com[1]munities and organisations. They retain a strong connection to their hometown, Blackburn. They also sponsor a local football team, Euro Garages FC, there.