Issa has approached buyout specialists and retailers as he looks to offload his 22.5% stake in the grocer, The Telegraph reported.

Zuber bought Asda, alongside brother Mohsin and private equity firm TDR Capital, in a £6.8bn deal in 2021.

It is thought he wants to focus his attention on EG Group, the petrol station empire that helped build the billionaire brothers’ fortune.

The newspaper cites City sources who suggest that Zuber could use the share sale funds to buy brother Mohsin out of EG Group.

The Telegraph said that TDR is exploring bringing in a CEO with more grocery experience to replace Mohsin, who has been at the helm of Asda since Roger Burnley left in 2021.

It’s reported that Zuber would prefer another investor to join TDR and Mohsin for Asda’s next phase, which could include a bold bid for Boots.

Any stake sale would have to be approved by Mohsin and TDR due to lock-in agreements. Zuber is said to be seeking more than £500m for his Asda stake.

He could explore selling the shareholding to TDR, although the private equity firm would likely offer a lower price than an outside investor.

Meanwhile Asda has accelerated the roll-out of its opening strategy, with plans to open 110 Asda Express stores in February in southern England.

The post Zuber Issa looks to sell Asda stake to focus on EG Group’s petrol station business appeared first on Ireland's Forecourt & Convenience Retailer.

The deal will see the supermarket’s Express format rolled out across EG Group’s 356 petrol stations, taking Asda’s convenience store estate up to 478.

The post £2bn acquisition of EG Group’s UK business completed – roll out of Express format follows appeared first on Ireland's Forecourt & Convenience Retailer.

The Asda Food Hub will be trialed at the retailer’s Leicester and Dagenham stores initially. This addition includes  a concession at the front of the store that will serve barista style coffees alongside premium grab and go options like sandwiches and cakes that are freshly prepared in store.

Food offer is set to change throughout the day, providing breakfast, lunch and afternoon snack solutions alongside a host of meal deals on offer.

“We’re always looking for ways to give shoppers more quality choices at affordable prices and the new Asda Food Hub is a great example of us investing in our stores to be able to provide that for shoppers. We also know how much customers already love our pizza counters so are pleased to be able to elevate this offering, giving our customers easy solutions that rival restaurant and takeaway quality, without the hefty price tag,” said an Asda Spokesperson.

The Food Hub will also provide a modern and welcoming new look and feel as shoppers enter the store, and shoppers can place their orders using touch screen tablets for quick service. The launch of the Asda Food Hubs follows a £1.2m revamp of the retailer’s traditional food to go range of sandwiches, salads and wraps that added more variety and quality options to the range.

The post New Asda Food Hub designed to drive shoppers from the forecourt instore appeared first on Ireland's Forecourt & Convenience Retailer.

EG Group has confirmed an agreement to sell to Asda most of its UK and Irland fuel, foodservice, grocery and merchandise business for £2.27bn.

Both companies are owned by Mohsin and Zuber Issa and the private equity firm TDR Capital and there have been reports that they have been working on a merger, which would create a £10bn business, for several months.

Merging the two firms creates a business with 600 supermarkets, 700 petrol forecourts and 100 convenience stores. Annual sales of the group would be around £30bn.

No significant redundancies would be expected as a result of a merger with Asda expected to retain its Leeds headquarters and EG its Blackburn base.

Last month Bloomberg said a merger would generate more than £100m of synergies between the two firms.

Asda has been involved in talks with the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) over concerns that its takeover of the Co-op’s 132 forecourts could reduce competition in some local areas, and it has agreed to sell off 13 of the sites.

However, it is thought the CMA is less likely to get involved in the merger because it already considers the two businesses as one because of their shared ownership. The pair also share the same chair in former M&S boss Lord Rose.

The deal by Mohsin and Zuber Issa and TDR to acquire Asda was investigated by the CMA and EG Group was required to sell off 27 sites to allay concerns that competition could be affected in the forecourt sector in local markets, as previously reported in IF&CR.

There was also a subsequent plan for EG Group to acquire Asda’s 320 petrol filling stations, car washes and ancillary land for £750m, but the deal was dropped in October 2021.

The post Asda acquires EG Group’s UK and Irish operations for £2.27bn appeared first on Ireland's Forecourt & Convenience Retailer.

They spoke out after weeks of criticism from motoring groups and fuel price campaigners that supermarket petrol stations are failing to reflect plunging wholesale fuel prices.

Data supplied by the AA and RAC has consistently shown costs for unleaded and diesel becoming cheaper at many independent forecourts, with supermarket fuel at around average or just below average levels.

They argue the sector should be leading the way on fuel prices due to its bulk-buying power, after Brent crude oil nudged levels not seen since January on Tuesday.

The pair are pushing their case at a time when the industry regulator is investigating British fuel price behaviour.

RAC fuel spokesman, Simon Williams, said: “There is yet more pressure on the biggest fuel retailers today to pass on savings to drivers as the price of oil has dipped below $80 for the first time since the start of the year causing the wholesale cost of petrol to tumble to 105p a litre and diesel to 119p.

“If a cut of at least 10p a litre doesn’t come soon it will be yet more evidence of ‘rocket and feather’ pricing for the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to take note of.

“The disparity between average pump prices at 158p for petrol and 182p for diesel and their wholesale equivalents is truly shocking.

“Even taking account of major retailers’ buying cycles, we can see no justification for them not cutting their prices significantly.”

UK supermarkets have historically charged around 3.5p per litre less at the pump than the UK average.

Fuel was effectively subsidised as part of the big four chains’ efforts to grow their respective grocery market shares.

But that changed last year when COVID pandemic restrictions ended and oil prices shot up – pushed even higher this year by the effects of the war in Ukraine.

The source suggested that the increased costs that supermarkets were grappling, largely linked to the war, meant they were now more focused on delivering value in areas other than fuel to keep essentials down in price as much as possible.

They said that, as a result, fuel was no longer a loss leader and pre-pandemic pricing behaviour was “gone”.

The post Era of cheap supermarket fuels ‘gone’, motorists told appeared first on Ireland's Forecourt & Convenience Retailer.