EG Group, a petrol station company supported by private equity firm TDR Capital, is preparing for an initial public offering in New York as early as this year that could value the business at approximately $13bn, according to a report by the Financial Times.
This move gives TDR Capital an opportunity to partially divest its investment in the company, having first partnered with Blackburn’s billionaire Issa brothers, Zuber and Mohsin, over a decade ago.
Zuber Issa, who co-founded EG Group with his brother in 2001 but stepped down from management in 2022, told The Sunday Times that the company is now laying the groundwork for an IPO. He indicated that the listing could take place either this year or next, following a lengthy period of evaluating strategic options.
The business is expected to list under the name Cumberland Farms, a US-based convenience store operator acquired by EG in 2019, according to a source familiar with the matter.
This decision to list in the US, made by TDR and the Issa brothers – two of the UK’s most prominent entrepreneurs – marks another setback for the London stock market, which has struggled with a lack of new listings and prominent companies moving elsewhere.
Starting from a single petrol station near Blackburn, Lancashire, the Issa brothers have rapidly expanded EG Group to more than 5,500 locations across nine countries. Much of this growth has been driven by acquisitions funded through debt and supported by their partnership with TDR.
Currently, TDR and the Issa brothers each own roughly 50% of EG Group.
Zuber explained that the choice to pursue a New York listing reflects the business’s significant presence in the US, which now accounts for over half of its earnings. He also noted the advantage of benchmarking performance against other North American-listed competitors, such as Canada’s Alimentation Couche-Tard and Nasdaq-listed Casey’s General Stores. In 2022, there were reports of merger discussions between EG and Alimentation Couche-Tard.
“If we had still had [the majority of] our assets in the UK, we would have had a much closer look at a UK IPO,” Zuber told the Sunday Times.
EG Group no longer operates petrol stations or convenience stores in the UK after selling most of these assets to Asda, a supermarket chain that is also owned by TDR Capital and Mohsin Issa.
In 2023, EG Group reported $1.1bn in underlying profit on revenues of $28.3bn. The company also significantly reduced its net debt, from around $10bn in early 2023 to $5.3bn by September.
Although Zuber and TDR jointly acquired Asda from Walmart in 2020, Zuber sold his stake in the supermarket business to TDR last year, formalising a separation. Zuber suggested that his decision to step back from EG was influenced by TDR’s desire to accelerate the IPO timeline, which he found too rapid.
Mohsin Issa now leads EG Group as sole CEO, while Zuber remains a shareholder and non-executive Director.
A source close to TDR stated that the IPO decision reflects the company’s long-term growth strategy rather than a push for investor exits:
“TDR has backed EG since 2014 and anything that EG decides [to do] is driven by the board and a decision the company makes.
“The notion this is shareholder driven is quite far-fetched. It’s not about an exit, it’s about setting the business up for [the] next stage of growth.”
