The Issa brothers (Zuber and Mohsin) along with private equity firm TDR capital will buy the British supermarket chain Asda Stores, which is currently owned by Walmart, for $8.8 billion. The Issa brothers are UK billionaires who own the EG Group, which operates petrol stations and fast food outlets.
Walmart bought Asda in 1999 for $8.65 billion, slightly less than the value of the deal they’ve struck today. As part of the deal, the Issa brothers and TDR capital will invest around $1.3 billion in the retailer over the next three years. Asda's auction took several months and Walmart finally decided to sell the controlling stake to TDR and the Issa brothers after Asda’s failed merger with Sainsbury (blocked on anti-competitive grounds).
Asda's sales grew during COVID, however it still lagged behind market leaders Tesco, Sainsbury, and Morrisons. The two brothers hope to leverage their experience with EG group, enabling them to grow Asda, in part by launching smaller stores.
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