Billionaire Issa brothers clear out old guard in battle to turn Asda around telegraph.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from telegraph.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
THE ISSA brothers have reportedly agreed to sell Asda s distribution network for £1.7billion. The supermarket chain s distribution arm sends goods to 342 stores across the UK and includes 21 food depots, three centres for its George clothing range, two for general merchandise, two centres for imported goods and two for handling customers online orders. According to reports in property trade publication React News, the £1.7 billion secured by the Blackburn-based Issa brothers is around £500 million more than the expected sale price for these assets, however the GMB union has previously warned against the sale of the hubs and the impact this could have on pay and conditions.
Asda’s billionaire owners close in on Caffe Nero takeover
The Issa brothers are closing in on a takeover deal for Caffe Nero
The billionaire brothers behind Asda are said to be closing in on a takeover deal for Caffe Nero after buying up the ailing coffee chain’s debts.
Mohsin and Zuber Issa have bought roughly £140m of loans from Swiss private equity firm Partners Group via investment bank Morgan Stanley, the Sunday Telegraph reported.
The deal puts the tycoons in prime position to take control of Caffe Nero if the company were to default on its loans.
Sources told the newspaper that Partners Group had written to Caffe Nero boss Gary Ford warning that they were concerned about the state of the company’s finances.
First published on Thu 21 Jan 2021 08.33 EST
The billionaire brothers buying Asda have hired the former Marks & Spencer boss Stuart Rose to chair their EG Group business.
EG, a chain of 6,000 petrol stations owned by the Blackburn-based Issa brothers and the private equity group TDR, has appointed Lord Rose as non-executive chairman with immediate effect as Zuber and Mohsin Issa prepare to expand with the Asda acquisition.
The veteran retailer also chairs the online groceries firm Ocado but is due to stand down in May after more than eight years.
The appointment is a boost to EG’s corporate credentials and its expansion ambitions. The Issa brothers are buying Leeds-based Asda, Britain’s third largest supermarket chain, from the US retail group Walmart for £6.8bn, also in tandem with TDR.
Walmart s international boss Judith McKenna (pictured) was instrumental in the sale of Asda to the Blackburn-based Issa brothers and their private equity backers, TDR Capital.