The billionaire petrol station tycoons who bought Asda have announced a sale of its assets that could raise up to £2billion.
Mohsin and Zuber Issa will sell the supermarket’s petrol station arm to their own forecourt empire EG Group for £750million once the £6.8billion takeover is completed.
They will also sell and lease back Asda’s logistics division, raising between £1billion and £1.2billion, and borrow £3.5billion to fund the debt-fuelled acquisition.
Supermarket sweep: Mohsin (left) and Zuber Issa will sell the Asda’s petrol station arm to their own forecourt empire EG Group for £750m once the £6.8bn takeover is completed
The announcement raised concerns about the pair’s long-term plans for Asda.
The Issas joined forces with private equity group TDR Capital to buy Asda from Walmart last year.
The brothers, who began their business empire with one petrol station in Bury, Lancashire, in 2001, have sought to allay fears saying they will invest £1billion in the next three years.
But the update did little to silence concerns over governance. The new Asda board will include the Issas, partners from TDR and a Walmart executive – but will have no independent directors.
The Issas said they plan to appoint some ‘in due course’.
The next step will be when regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority, and the UK competition watchdog approve the deal, with decisions expected in the next four months.
The Blackburn-born brothers yesterday said they had instituted a ‘robust capital structure’ that would ‘support growth’.
#fiveDealsWidget .dealItemTitle#mobile {display:none} #fiveDealsWidget {display:block; float:left; clear:both; max-width:636px; margin:0; padding:0; line-height:120%; font-size:12px} #fiveDealsWidget div, #fiveDealsWidget a {margin:0; padding:0; line-height:120%; text-decoration: none; font-family:Arial, Helvetica ,sans-serif} #fiveDealsWidget .widgetTitleBox {display:block; float:left; width:100%; background-color:#af1e1e; } #fiveDealsWidget .widgetTitle {color:#fff; text-transform: uppercase; font-size:18px; font-weight:bold; margin:6px 10px 4px 10px; } #fiveDealsWidget a.dealItem {float:left; display:block; width:124px; margin-right:4px; margin-top:5px; background-color: #e3e3e3; min-height:200px;} #fiveDealsWidget a.dealItem#last {margin-right:0} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemTitle {display:block; margin:10px 5px; color:#000; font-weight:bold} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemImage, #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemImage img {float:left; display:block; margin:0; padding:0} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemImage {border:1px solid #ccc} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemImage img {width:100%; height:auto} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemdesc {float:left; display:block; color:#004db3; font-weight:bold; margin:5px;} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemRate {float:left; display:block; color:#000; margin:5px} #fiveDealsWidget .footerText a:hover{text-decoration: underline;} #fiveDealsWidget .footerSmall{font-size:10px; padding-top:10px;} @media (max-width: 635px) { #fiveDealsWidget a.dealItem {width:19%; margin-right:1%} #fiveDealsWidget a.dealItem#last {width:20%} } @media (max-width: 560px) { #fiveDealsWidget #desktop {display:none;} #fiveDealsWidget #mobile {display:block!important} #fiveDealsWidget a.dealItem {background-color: #fff; height:auto; min-height:auto} #fiveDealsWidget a.dealItem {border-bottom:1px solid #ececec; margin-bottom:5px; padding-bottom:10px} #fiveDealsWidget a.dealItem#last {border-bottom:0px solid #ececec; margin-bottom:5px; padding-bottom:0px} #fiveDealsWidget a.dealItem, #fiveDealsWidget a.dealItem#last {width:100%} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemContent, #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemImage {float:left; display:inline-block} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemImage {width:35%; margin-right:1%} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemContent {width:63%} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemTitle {margin: 0px 5px 5px; font-size:16px} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemContent .dealItemdesc, #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemContent .dealItemRate {clear:both} }
