When the billionaire Issa brothers parked up outside Asda Leeds headquarters in February 2021, they had just secured the keys to a business that seemed to present an incredible opportunity: a 600-stores-plus cash machine.
The brothers from Blackburn were set on leapfrogging slightly bigger rival Sainsbury’s to make Asda the UK’s second-largest supermarket group.
They promised £1bn of investment to fly the brand’s bright green banner above hundreds more convenience stores, many of which would be based on their own EG Group petrol forecourts, and to fill unwanted supermarket space with takeaways from their string of franchise partners, from KFC to Subway.
Asda’s previous owner, the US retail group Walmart, had spent some time trying to exit Asda – including an abortive 2018 merger with Sainsbury’s. After that deal was scuppered by competition concerns, the Issa brothers provided the perfect opportunity for Walmart’s owners, the billionaire Walton family, to offload the chain near the top of the market.
The deal was inked in October 2020 and a finalised the following February.
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