Dive Brief:

• The speculated merger between convenience and fuel retailer EG Group and its sister supermarket company, Asda, could commence by the end of April, according to a Monday report by The Times of London.
• The Issa brothers and their private equity partner TDR Capital, who jointly own both EG Group and Asda, are “racing to complete” the merger — which is expected to be worth between $13.5 billion and $16 billion — in order to refinance the $8.6 billion of debt they have falling due in 2025, The Times noted.
• This update comes about eight weeks after initial reports of the merger surfaced, as well as news that the Issa brothers were looking to offload its c-store and fuel assets in the U.S. to also relieve debt. Since then, EG Group has sold 441 U.S. properties for over $1.5 billion.

Dive Insight:

It remains unclear how or if this merger would impact EG Group’s remaining c-store and fuel assets in the U.S., which include close to 1,700 locations. However, in the U.K., the merger would create a group with 700 fueling centers, 100 c-stores and 581 supermarkets.

The deal would likely result in a takeover of EG Group by Asda, adding more debt to the supermarket chain’s balance sheet, according to The Times. Asda’s net debt already stands at about $5.8 billion. The Issa brothers and TDR Capital are being advised by bankers at Barclays and Rothschild on the potential move, according to The Times.

EG Group declined to comment when contacted by C-Store Dive for more information on its potential merger with Asda.

Blackburn, U.K.-based EG Group has more than 6,600 sites across the U.S., U.K. and Ireland, Europe and Australia. The retailer is the fourth-largest convenience store chain in the U.S. by store count, according to NACS.