Zuber Issa is believed to be planning to step down as co-CEO of the EG Group, leaving the company in the hands of his older brother Mohsin, if he can complete a deal to acquire the remaining UK forecourts owned by the business.
Some 34 sites stayed with the group after it divested more than 350 other forecourts in the UK to supermarket chain Asda last year in a £2 billion deal aimed at lowering its debt and high borrowing costs. Last year EG, owned by the brothers and private equity firm TDR Capital, also agreed to sell all of its KFC restaurants in the UK and Ireland, and it agreed to a sale-and-leaseback of more than 400 stores in the USA.
EG’s chief operating officer Salim Hasan is also thought to be planning to resign if this latest deal, seen by Bloomberg News in a bond prospectus, goes ahead. It is thought that while Zuber’s focus would be on the UK forecourts, he would remain as a non-executive board member of EG Group.
The talks come at a time that the debt-laden company is looking to exit Australia just over five years after purchasing 540 gas station sites there, said Bloomberg News.
Part of the challenge in that market is thought to have been down to lower fuel volumes and changes in excise duties. Also, logistics became difficult during Covid, and due to Australia being so far away from its UK headquarters, said the news service.
Departing Australia would entail a further dismantling of EG, which was founded by Mohsin and Zuber Issa in 2001 in Blackburn, before growing rapidly with the backing of TDR Capital. Today the group owns more than 6,000 sites across Europe, Australia and the US. The brothers and TDR also control Asda.
EG Group declined to comment.
