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Private equity firm TDR Capital is set to become the majority owner of British supermarket chain Asda, after acquiring co-owner Zuber Issa’s stake in the company.

As FoodBev reported in April, Zuber was said to be discussing plans to divest his stake in the business earlier in the year according to reports by Bloomberg. Now, the official agreement – signed last week and set to complete in Q3 2024 – will bring TDR Capital’s ownership of Asda to 67.5%, with Zuber’s brother and co-owner Mohsin Issa retaining 22.5% of the business.

The Issa brothers took majority ownership of Asda alongside TDR Capital in 2021, buying the business from Walmart, which still owns a 10% stake. Since then, TDR has worked with Asda to accelerate its growth strategy, with a focus on delivering low prices to customers and expanding into the convenience retail segment.

This included Asda’s £2bn acquisition of EG Group’s UK business last year, rolling out its Asda Express stores across EG’s 356 sites including petrol filling stations (PFS), and its takeover of 132 Co-Op sites with attached PFS in 2022.

Commenting on the deal, Zuber said: “With the divestment of my Asda shares, I will now turn my attention towards leading and managing the remaining EG UK forecourt sites that I have personally acquired, and spend more time on my charitable endeavours”.

He added: “I am pleased to see TDR increasing its investment in Asda. With Mohsin and TDR’s ongoing focus and shareholding, I am confident that Asda will achieve its growth ambitions.”

Gary Lindsay and Tom Mitchell, managing partners at TDR Capital, commented: “By combining our investment and sector expertise with Asda’s heritage of delivering value for customers, we have already made significant progress in transforming Asda”.

“We have added a scale convenience business, grown Asda’s store footprint from 623 to 1,200 stores and food-to-go sites, and launched a hugely successful loyalty app, which now has six million active customers, accounting for around half of total sales.”

They added that they remain focused on investing in Asda’s stores and online, as well as its workforce, to support the company’s growth strategy and drive ‘sustainable, long-term growth’.

The Asda board is currently undertaking an international executive search to find a permanent CEO to lead the business in its next phase of growth.

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