TDR Capital to aquire Asda stake from billionaire Issa brother

The brothers teamed up with London-based TDR to buy Asda for £6.8 billion ($8.45 billion) just three years ago from Walmart Inc. Their tenure has been rocky, with critics questioning the new owners’ commitment to Asda’s historic focus on keeping prices low.

As food and gas prices surged in 2023 amid historic inflation, Asda, the third-largest UK grocer, had to rebut claims by Britain’s antitrust regulator that it was gouging customers.

Born in Blackburn, England, the sibling duo founded EG Group and built up a $30 billion empire of petrol stations and convenience stores across Europe, the US and Australia over the span of two decades, financing their ambitions with dozens of debt-funded deals. Since 2015, TDR has backed most of their significant acquisitions.

However, higher interest rates have pushed up the cost of servicing their debts and squeezed profits, forcing the pair to sell down assets. The latest deal would further unwind their business interests from each other and from TDR.

Zuber Issa began talks earlier this year about selling his stake in Asda, and plans to step back as co-chief executive officer of EG Group.

Mohsin Issa also intends to relinquish day-to-day control of Asda to focus on running EG Group. A search to find a new CEO for Asda is already under way, with headhunters from Spencer Stuart conducting a search, according to people familiar with the matter.