Britain’s petrol station tycoons, Mohsin and Zuber Issa, are weighing up a potential £13 billion listing of their forecourt empire, EG Group, on an American stock market.
The move would mark another blow for the London Stock Exchange, which has been hit by a raft of high-profile companies choosing to float abroad.
Sources suggest that EG Group and their private equity backer, TDR Capital, are scoping out a possible listing as early as 2025, with the US market seen as the most appealing thanks to EG’s extensive American operations. Formed in 2001 from a single site in Bury, Greater Manchester, the company has rapidly expanded via a series of high-debt acquisitions, amassing thousands of service stations worldwide.
The Issas acquired 800 convenience stores from US retailer Kroger for $2.2 billion in 2018, elevating America to EG’s most important market. In the UK, much of EG Group’s presence was sold to Asda for £2 billion last year. Zuber Issa subsequently sold his 22.5% stake in Asda, using the proceeds to take ownership of the remaining UK forecourts and establish a separate venture, EG on The Move, although he continues to hold shares in EG Group and sits on its board.
Although reports have circulated about tensions between the brothers, Mohsin Issa, 53, refuted rumours of a falling-out. Despite diminishing UK interests—EG Group still owns the Cooplands bakery chain and a Starbucks franchise—it has built a sizeable American network across 30 states. Analysts say floating in the US could deliver a generous valuation in line with recent transatlantic trends: Ashtead Group, Flutter Entertainment, and Ferguson have all shifted their listings stateside.
Banks named in connection with a potential EG Group float include Rothschild, Barclays, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley, though no final decision has been made. EG Group itself declined to comment.