British petrol station tycoons Mohsin and Zubair Issa are considering a potential £13bn listing of their front office empire, EG Group, on the US stock market.
This step will represent another blow to the London Stock Exchange, which has been affected by a large group of prominent companies that chose to offer their shares abroad.
Sources indicate that EG Group and its private equity backer, TDR Capital, are considering a potential listing as early as 2025, with the US market seen as most attractive thanks to EG’s extensive US operations. Founded in 2001 from a single site in Bury, Greater Manchester, the company expanded rapidly through a series of high-leverage acquisitions, amassing thousands of service stations around the world.
The Issa family acquired 800 convenience stores from US retailer Kroger for $2.2 billion in 2018, elevating America to Egypt’s most important market. In the UK, a significant portion of EG Group’s presence was sold to Asda for £2 billion last year. Subsequently, Zuber Issa sold his 22.5% stake in Asda, using the proceeds to acquire ownership of the remaining UK forecourts and create a separate venture, EG on The Move, although he continued to own shares in EG Group and sit on its board.
Although there were reports of tensions between the two brothers, Mohsen Issa (53 years old) refuted rumors of a dispute between them. Despite waning UK interests – EG Group still owns the Cooplands bakery chain and the Starbucks franchise – it has built a large US network across 30 states. Analysts say a US flotation could fetch a generous valuation in line with recent trends across the Atlantic: Ashtead Group, Flutter Entertainment and Ferguson have all moved their listings to the US.
Banks mentioned in connection with the potential EG Group IPO include Rothschild, Barclays, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley, although a final decision has not yet been made. EG Group itself declined to comment.