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EG Group

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This article is about the group founded in 2001. For Zuber Issa's separate firm, see EG On the Move.

EG Group Limited
Formerly
  • Euro Garages (2001–2016)
  • Intervias Group (2016–2018)
Company typePrivate
IndustryRetail
Founded2001
Founder
Headquarters
Waterside, Lancashire
,
United Kingdom
Area served
  • Australia
  • Belgium
  • France
  • Germany
  • Italy
  • Luxembourg
  • Netherlands
  • United Kingdom
  • United States
  • Ireland (formerly)
Key people
Brands
Revenue$26.511 billion (2021)[3]
Number of employees
50,000+ (2021)
ParentOptima Bidco (Jersey) Limited
Divisions
  • EG Shared Services
  • EG Fuel
  • EG Retail
Subsidiaries
  • EG France
  • EG Benelux
  • EG Deutschland
  • EG Italy
  • EG America
  • EG Australia
Websiteeg.group

EG Group Limited is a British operator of filling stations, convenience stores and food service providers across Europe, the United States and Australia. It was founded in Blackburn in 2001 by brothers Mohsin and Zuber Issa, initially as Euro Garages.

In October 2015, private equity firm TDR Capital purchased a minority stake in Euro Garages for £1.3 billion.[4] In October 2016, TDR's European Forecourt Retail Group (EFR) merged with Euro Garages to form Intervias Group, which would later be renamed to EG Group.[5]

The group's acquisitions have been largely funded by debt, with a net debt of nearly £8 billion in March 2023.[6] Since early 2023, the group has sold its U.S. forecourts in a sale-and-leaseback deal, as well as sold most of its UK assets to Asda, Zuber Issa (as EG On the Move) and Yum! Brands in an effort to reduce this debt.[7][8]

History

[edit]

Growth and national expansion (2001–2015)

[edit]

In March 2001, brothers Mohsin and Zuber Issa purchased a BP forecourt in Bury, Greater Manchester for £150,000.[9] Later in the same year, the brothers would acquire additional forecourts.[10]

In October 2006, the group began rolling out Subway concessions at its forecourts.[11]

By July 2007, the group had formed partnerships with Shell and Texaco, as well as Spar and Costcutter for grocery and merchandising.[12]

By February 2009, Euro Garages had 73 forecourts across North England and the Midlands.[13]

In July 2009, Euro Garages acquired its first motorway service area, Rivington services, and invested £12.5 million in refurbishing it.[14] In the same month, the group partnered with JJ Beano's to deploy Coffee Nation dispensers to its sites.[15]

In January 2010, the group began franchising Starbucks locations, and in November of that year began a franchise agreement with Burger King.[16]

In February 2013, Euro Garages acquired 45 Esso petrol stations in North England and Wales from ExxonMobil, who were offloading their forecourt sites to focus on their core production and refining business.[17][18] In the same month, the group acquired a number of vacant Little Chef premises, to transform into Starbucks franchises.[19]

In July 2013, the group entered into a trial agreement with Greggs, who wanted to enter the food-to-go sector.[20] Also around the same time, the group had a brief partnership with Valero Energy.[21]

In January 2014, Euro Garages acquired another 48 Esso forecourts in the Midlands, nearly doubling Euro Garages' reach to 180 sites across the UK.[22] In April 2015, the group acquired another 104 Esso forecourts.[23] In October 2015, the group purchased 68 forecourts from Shell.[24]

TDR Capital and international expansion (2015–2023)

[edit]

In October 2015, TDR Capital purchased a minority stake in Euro Garages.[25]

In February 2016, Euro Garages formed a franchise partnership with KFC.[26]

In October 2016, Euro Garages merged with TDR Capital's European Forecourt Retail group (EFR), to create Intervias Group, a new group comprising 1,450 locations, with a presence in the UK, France, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg.[27]

In January 2017, Intervias Group began a trial to roll-out Sainsbury's Local to forecourts in the UK, though these were unsuccessful and were changed to Spar.[28] The group would later collaborate with Sainsbury's again to create Sainsbury's on the Go, though this concept was discontinued later on as well.[29]

In February 2017, Intervias Group purchased 78 UK properties from Kout Food Group, this including all 70 Little Chef sites (some with attached Burger King and Subway franchises) and eight standalone Burger King sites for £16 million.[30][31] The group would then transform the Little Chef sites into franchise partners by October 2018.[32] The group founded EG Diner as a stopgap in January 2018, when its licence to use the Little Chef name expired, ending the Little Chef brand after almost 60 years.[33]

In August 2017, EG Group opened its first hotel site, a former Travelodge hotel site in Monmouth, Wales, reopening it as Raglan Lodge. Another former Travelodge hotel site location at Rivington Services was acquired and reopened as Rivington Lodge.[34]

In November 2017, the business secured approximately 1,000 petrol stations from Esso in Germany, which would be transferred and integrated into the existing network by October 2018.[35]

In December 2017, Intervias Group announced a partnership with Krispy Kreme in the UK.[36]

In January 2018, Intervias Group announced that it had completed the acquisition of circa 1,200 sites in Italy from Esso.[37] In April 2018, Intervias Group completed the acquisition of a portfolio of 97 sites in the Netherlands to supplement is existing network in the country.[38]

On 5 February 2018, Intervias Group announced that it would purchase nearly eight hundred Kroger convenience stores for $2.15 billion.[39] In December 2018, EG Group completed its acquisition of 225 sites of Minit Mart from Travel Centers of America LLC for upwards of US$330m.[40]

On 9 November 2018, Australian retailer Woolworths announced to the Australian Securities Exchange it had entered into a binding agreement to sell its 540 fuel convenience sites to EG Group for A$1.72bn. This created EG Australia.[41]

In July 2019, EG Group completed its acquisition of fifty four Fastrac branded sites in the United States,[42] and announced a deal to acquire sixty nine sites operated by Certified Oil, also in the United States.[43] On 31 July 2019, EG Group announced having entered a binding agreement to purchase Cumberland Farms.[44][45][46] EG America has become the nation's fourth largest convenience store chain following 7-Eleven's purchase of Speedway, and with Circle K and Casey's occupying the other spots ahead of EG America.[47][48] Some EG America locations have begun offering franchised food concepts at their locations, such as Subway, Burger King, Sbarro, and Hunt Brothers Pizza, to compete better with chains that have long-established in-house food products.[49]

Former Loaf 'N Jug now a Kroger's Smith's Express in Gillette, Wyoming[50]

In early 2020, EG Group announced that they were opening 150 UK bakery outlets under a partnership with Cinnabon by 2025.[51][52]

In March 2020, EG Group acquired 145 KFC outlets in the UK and Ireland from The Herbert Group.[53]

In October 2020, the Issa brothers and TDR Capital won a deal to buy the supermarket chain Asda from Walmart for £6.8 billion, bringing it back into British hands after more than 20 years.[54] Questions were raised after its auditor, Deloitte, "suddenly quit" to be replaced by KPMG.[55] However, the group indicated there were no auditing disagreements.[55] This acquisition would mean EG Group would work with Asda to create 'Asda on the Move' and 'Asda Express', transforming a number of its existing Spar sites.[56]

In November 2020, EG Group entered into a binding agreement for the acquisition of 18 locations of Schrader Oil in Fort Collins, Colorado.[57]

In May 2021, EG Group bought Leon Restaurants in the UK for a reported £100 million.[55]

In September 2021, EG Group acquired 52 British KFC restaurants from Amsric Group, becoming the largest KFC franchisee in western Europe.[58]

In October 2021, EG Group bought Cooplands, the UK's second-largest bakery operating mainly in North East England and Yorkshire.[59] Also in October 2021, the group announced it would sell 27 sites to Park Garage Group to satisfy the Competition and Markets Authority after buying Asda.[60]

In April 2022, The Wall Street Journal reported that Circle K parent Alimentation Couche-Tard was in talks to buy EG Group. This deal would significantly boost Circle K's presence in several markets including Europe, as well as giving it a location in every US state except Utah.[61]

In May 2022, EG Group attempted to rescue the British convenience store chain McColl's from administration, but lost out to Morrisons.[62][63]

Later in the same month, the group bought 285 petrol stations in Southern Germany from OMV, which were partly supplied by refinery Burghausen. The price was 485 million Euro cash which equals 614 million Euro including pending lease obligations.[64]

Restructure plan (2023–present)

[edit]

In March 2023, EG sold and leased back 415 of its American convenience stores to Realty Income for $1.5 billion (£1.18bn) to help to drive down its debts.[65]

In May 2023, it was announced that EG Group would spin off the majority of the UK business to Asda: it would include the majority of the petrol stations, which would be rebranded under the Asda Express sub-brand, Greggs, Subway and Burger King franchises and the Leon Restaurants chain. The Cooplands chain, KFC, Cinnabon and Starbucks franchises and some of the petrol stations would be retained by EG Group, with the forecourts being rebranded to EG On The Move.[66][67] The Issa brothers and TDR Capital already own a majority stake in Asda. The deal was finalised on 31 October 2023.[68][69]

On 6 December 2023, EG Group announced that they would sell their 218 KFC UK and Ireland restaurants to KFC owner Yum! Brands for an undisclosed sum, meaning EG Group will leave the Irish market.[70] The sale was completed in April 2024.[71]

In March 2024, it emerged that Zuber Issa may acquire some assets from EG Group, and then operate them independently, these assets were confirmed to be the Cinnabon franchise and the rest of the petrol station business, although EG Group would keep some Starbucks franchise stores, Evpoint and Cooplands, effectively staying in the UK.[72][73]

A Turkey Hill Minit Markets location in Columbus, Ohio offering Cumberland Farms branded coffee in 2021

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c "EG Group Appoints Lord Stuart Rose as Chairman" (PDF) (Press release). EG Group. 21 January 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 September 2022. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
  2. ^ "The Board and Group Executive". (Group Leadership tab). EG Group. Archived from the original on 3 October 2022. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
  3. ^ "Annual Report 2021" (PDF). EG Group. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 June 2022. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  4. ^ Begum, Shelina (20 October 2015). "TDR Capital takes a bite into Euro Garages for £1.3bn". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
  5. ^ "Euro Garages and EFR deal details emerge | TheBusinessDesk.com". North West. 6 October 2016. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
  6. ^ Morgan, Aoife (9 June 2023). "EG Group extends $3.4bn loan deadline following Asda deal - Retail Gazette". Retrieved 27 May 2024.
  7. ^ Faithfull, Mark. "EG America Owner Sells U.S. Gas Stations And Considers Asda Merger". Forbes. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
  8. ^ "Issa brothers fry off entire KFC franchise to slash debt mountain". CityAM. 6 December 2023. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
  9. ^ McCall, Alastair; Watts, Robert (7 May 2017). "High-octane rise of brothers' firm shows family value". The Sunday Times. p. 3.
  10. ^ "Our Enterprise Journey". www.eg.group. Retrieved 23 March 2024.
  11. ^ "Our Enterprise Journey". www.eg.group. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
  12. ^ House, Companies (31 July 2007). "Euro Garages Limited - directors report and financial statements". Companies House. Retrieved 24 August 2024.
  13. ^ "Euro Garages | Petrol station forecourt operator in North of England | About us". 23 February 2009. Archived from the original on 23 February 2009. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
  14. ^ "£12.3m rebuild of Lancashire service station complete". Lancashire Telegraph. 26 July 2011. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
  15. ^ 2009-08-03T00:00:00+01:00. "Euro Garages does coffee deal with JJ Beano's". Forecourt Trader. Retrieved 25 August 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  16. ^ "Our Enterprise Journey". www.eg.group. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
  17. ^ "Euro Garages buys 45 Esso petrol stations". www.ft.com. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
  18. ^ Mustoe, Howard (2 October 2020). "Who are Asda's new owners the Issa brothers?". BBC News. Archived from the original on 3 October 2020. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
  19. ^ www.caterlyst.com https://www.caterlyst.com/Caterlyst3/Insight/Sector.aspx?t=14&n=3703. Retrieved 17 February 2024. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  20. ^ "Propel Newsletter Archive Page". www.propelinfonews.com. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
  21. ^ Garages Limited, Euro (31 July 2013). "companies_house_document.pdf"&X-Amz-Signature=9cf3347b5c2d299220b6190f77d050f0ad248d2a4fb26b3299f9ec9963789442 "Financial Statements Euro Garages Limited". Companies House. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
  22. ^ Begum, Shelina (15 January 2014). "Euro Garages to acquire 48 Esso sites". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
  23. ^ "Euro Garages to buy 104 sites from Esso". Forecourt Trader. 7 April 2015. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
  24. ^ "Euro Garages snaps up 68 new locations". Lancashire Business View. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
  25. ^ Begum, Shelina (20 October 2015). "TDR Capital takes a bite into Euro Garages for £1.3bn". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
  26. ^ Wood, John (15 March 2017). "Euro Garages opens its first KFC drive-thru". Forecourt Trader. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
  27. ^ Wood, John (5 October 2016). "Euro Garages merges to form giant group". Forecourt Trader. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
  28. ^ "Fast-growing Blackburn firm Euro Garages secures deal with Sainsbury's". Lancashire Telegraph. 6 October 2016. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
  29. ^ Wire (4 August 2020). "Sainsbury's 'On the Go' store opens at Esso Ruddington service station | West Bridgford Wire". Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  30. ^ "Questions over Little Chef future as owner sells restaurants". belfasttelegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Archived from the original on 29 June 2022. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
  31. ^ 2017-07-27T08:41:00. "Euro Garages invested £16m on Little Chef deal". MCA Insight. Retrieved 8 November 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  32. ^ Media, Insider. "Little Chef sites sold to Euro Garages". Insider Media Ltd. Archived from the original on 22 April 2022. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
  33. ^ Farrell, T. (11 December 2013). "The rise and fall of the Little Chef empire (1958 - 2018)". Let's Look Again. Archived from the original on 28 October 2021. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
  34. ^ "News | Airwave Europe". www.airwave.tv. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
  35. ^ "ExxonMobil and EG Group Enter into New Partnership for German Esso Stations". EG Group. 29 November 2017. Archived from the original on 28 July 2019. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
  36. ^ "Our Enterprise Journey". www.eg.group. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
  37. ^ "EG Group completes on 1,200 Esso sites in Italy - Forecourt Trader". forecourttrader.co.uk. Archived from the original on 21 January 2023. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
  38. ^ "Nieuws | NRGValue". NRGValue (in Dutch). Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  39. ^ "Kroger to sell its convenience stores to UK's EG Group for $2.15 billion". CNBC. 5 February 2018. Archived from the original on 6 February 2018. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  40. ^ Lindenberg, Greg (7 December 2018). "TravelCenters of America Completes Minit Mart Sale". CSP Daily News. Archived from the original on 21 January 2023. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
  41. ^ Hatch, Patrick (9 November 2018). "Woolworths offloads servos to British group EG for $1.7 billion". Fairfax Media. The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 21 January 2023. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  42. ^ Lindenberg, Greg (2 July 2019). "EG Group Completes Fastrac Acquisition". CSP Daily News. Archived from the original on 21 January 2023. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
  43. ^ Lindenberg, Greg (13 May 2019). "EG Group to Acquire Certified Oil Business". CSP Daily News. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
  44. ^ "EG Group to acquire Cumberland Farms in the USA". www.eg.group. Archived from the original on 21 January 2023. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  45. ^ "EG Group to Acquire Cumberland Farms". CSP Daily News. Archived from the original on 21 January 2023. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  46. ^ "UK's EG Group Buys Cumberland Farms C-Store Chain". CStore Decisions. 31 July 2019.
  47. ^ "EG America LLC". CSP Daily News. Archived from the original on 21 January 2023. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  48. ^ "Our brands". Turkey Hill Stores. Archived from the original on 21 January 2023. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  49. ^ Kulp, Andrew (31 January 2020). "Taking aim at competition, Turkey Hill partners with fast food chains". Reading Eagle. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
  50. ^ Truchot, Jeff (29 March 2018). "Loaf 'N Jug stores changing hands". Wyoming Business Report. Archived from the original on 21 January 2023. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
  51. ^ "EG Group to Open 150 Cinnabon® Bakeries Across the UK Under New Master Licensee Deal". Euro Garages. 30 November 2020. Archived from the original on 27 January 2021. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  52. ^ Gilbert, Helen (30 November 2020). "Cinnabon to open 150 sites in the UK". British Baker. Archived from the original on 24 January 2021. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  53. ^ "EG Group buys largest KFC franchise operator in UK & Ireland". The Grocer. Archived from the original on 1 March 2021. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
  54. ^ Jordan, Dearbail (2 October 2020). "Asda bought by billionaire Issa brothers in £6.8bn deal". BBC News. Archived from the original on 2 October 2020. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
  55. ^ a b c "Leon: Billionaire Issa brothers buy fast food chain". BBC News. 18 April 2021. Archived from the original on 21 January 2023. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
  56. ^ "Asda opens largest Asda On the Move store". Corporate - ASDA. Archived from the original on 10 September 2022. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
  57. ^ Lindenberg, Greg (9 November 2020). "EG Group to Acquire Schrader Oil". CSP Daily News. Archived from the original on 21 January 2023. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
  58. ^ "EG Group acquires 52 KFC restaurants". The Caterer. 27 September 2021. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
  59. ^ Robinson, Jon; Le, Josie Vay (4 October 2021). "Billionaire Issa brothers buy Britain's second-biggest bakery in multi-million pound deal". Manchester Evening News. Archived from the original on 4 October 2021. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
  60. ^ Boulton2021-10-05T09:42:00+01:00, Merril. "EG Group confirms sale of 27 sites to Park Garage Group". Forecourt Trader. Retrieved 8 April 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  61. ^ "Couche-Tard, EG Group in Merger Talks: Report". CSP Daily News. 29 April 2022. Archived from the original on 21 January 2023. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  62. ^ Gill, Oliver; Warrington, James (9 May 2022). "Morrisons beats Issa brothers in battle to rescue McColl's". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
  63. ^ Nazir, Sahar (9 May 2022). "Morrisons buys McColl's, beating Asda owner EG Group". Retrieved 30 September 2024.
  64. ^ "Verkauf des OMV Tankstellengeschäfts in Deutschland an EG Group abgeschlossen". www.omv.de (in German). Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  65. ^ "EG Group sells convenience store portfolio in US for $1.5bn". CRE Herald. 6 March 2023. Retrieved 8 April 2024.
  66. ^ "UK's Asda to buy EG petrol stations unit in $2.9-bln deal". Reuters. 30 May 2023.
  67. ^ "EG Group to retain Cooplands Bakery brand, KFC and Starbucks franchises following cut-price Asda sale - Prolific North". 31 October 2023. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
  68. ^ "Issa Brothers and TDR Capital Complete the Acquisition of Asda from Walmart". corporate.walmart.com. Archived from the original on 16 February 2021. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
  69. ^ Hunt, Simon (31 October 2023). "Issa brothers complete EG Group UK sale to Asda at a discount". Evening Standard. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
  70. ^ Wright, Georgia (6 December 2023). "EG Group to sell all 218 KFC UK&I franchise restaurants to reduce debt - Retail Gazette". www.retailgazette.co.uk. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  71. ^ Wright, Georgia (6 September 2024). "EG Group delivers strong Q2 amid 'standout' USA and Europe performance - Retail Gazette". Retrieved 6 September 2024.
  72. ^ "EG Group in talks to sell some UK assets to co-founder Zuber Issa". www.ft.com. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
  73. ^ Wright, Georgia (20 May 2024). "Zuber Issa to acquire EG's UK arm as group returns to profit - Retail Gazette". Retrieved 20 May 2024.
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