Britain’s EG Group to buy Asda’s petrol stations for 750 million pounds

By James Davey

LONDON (Reuters) – The Issa brothers and TDR Capital will offload Asda’s petrol stations to their own EG Group for 750 million pounds ($1.02 billion) when their purchase of the British supermarket group from Walmart is completed, they said on Wednesday.

In October, Zuber and Mohsin Issa and private equity firm TDR Capital, agreed to buy a majority stake in Asda from Walmart in a deal which gave the group an enterprise value of 6.8 billion pounds ($9.30 billion).

Separately, the brothers and TDR own EG Group, a global convenience and petrol forecourts retailer which trades from more than 6,000 sites across 10 countries.

There has been speculation EG Group could pursue a stock market listing.

The brothers and TDR said the Asda acquisition was on track to complete later this month. However, it remains subject to clearance from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) which is expected in the second quarter of 2021.

They said the petrol forecourts deal, under which the stations will continue to be branded Asda, will be considered by the CMA as part of its review of the Asda purchase.

The Issa brothers and TDR said they also plan to sell some of Asda’s distribution assets to institutional real estate investors. Asda would continue to operate the assets.

As part of the financing of the Asda deal, the brothers and TDR plan to raise 840 million pounds of loan facilities, 2.25 billion pounds of senior secured notes and 500 million pounds of senior notes.

They have committed to invest 1 billion pounds in Asda over the next three years.

Asda, Britain’s No. 3 grocer after market leader Tesco and Sainsbury’s, said its sales rose 6.9% over the eight weeks to Dec. 24.

All of Britain’s supermarket groups enjoyed strong Christmas trading, with coronavirus restrictions closing the hospitality sector and forcing many people to work from home.

(Reporting by James Davey. Editing by Jane Merriman)