Petrol station billionaires in running to buy Asda - report
Walmart has chosen buyout firm TDR Capital and the billionaire brothers who founded the EG petrol station business as joint preferred bidders to buy Asda, the Financial Times reported.
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The US retailer, which has owned Asda since 1999, decided to go into advanced talks with TDR and the Issa brothers at the weekend and a deal could be struck this week, the FT said. Apollo was the other potential bidder after Lone Star Capital pulled out last week.
TDR owns about half of EG Group, formerly known as Euro Garages. Mohsin and Zuber Issa founded the business when they bought a garage in Bury, Greater Manchester, in 2001 and own the other half. The group is likely to pay about £6.5bn for Asda.
The brothers would front the deal and debt for the purchase will not be raised by EG, a person familiar with the proposed bid's structure told the FT. The Issa brothers have not run a big format supermarket and have specialised in convenience stores and food and drink outlets on their forecourts.
The Issas have been considering a move for Asda since February or earlier. EG recently announced a trial involving Asda convenience stored at three of its UK sites.
Walmart has been considering what to do with Asda since the UK's competition regulator rejected Sainsbury's agreed takeover of the UK's fourth-biggest supermarket chain in 2019.