Supermarket giant Asda clinches €2.63bn fuel and convenience stores deal

Asda is buying out most of EG Group which is best known here for the 145 KFC franchise outlets it runs across Ireland

Asda operates 17 supermarkets in the North. File picture

The UK's third-largest supermarket Asda said it plans to acquire the petrol forecourts and convenience store operations in the UK and Ireland of its sister business, EG Group, in a deal worth £2.27bn (€2.63bn). 

The EG Group is best known here for the 145 KFC franchise outlets it runs across Ireland, which it bought from the Herbert Group three years ago. EG's Irish business is run out of Blackburn in England.         

The long-awaited tie-up of EG and Asda was, however, no surprise as both are owned by the billionaire Issa brothers and the private equity firm TDR Capital. It is expected to create a combined business worth about £10bn (€8.63bn) and will allow the supermarket to expand further into convenience retail.

Asda operates 17 supermarkets in the North.   

Under the deal, Asda is buying about 350 petrol station sites and more than 1,000 convenience store locations, meaning the new group will operate about 640 supermarkets, 700 petrol forecourts and 100 convenience stores.

The combined group is expected to serve about 21 million customers every week and will have revenues of nearly £30bn (€25.88bn). Both businesses are chaired by the former Marks & Spencer boss Stuart Rose.

Under the deal, EG employees at the sites being sold will transition over to Asda, a move that was criticised in advance by the GMB union, which represents thousands of Asda staff and which called it a bad deal for workers. 

Guardian Service and Irish Examiner