Asda owners borrowed millions from EG Group to pay private jet loans

Corporate filings show that the Issa brothers, who bought the supermarket chain in 2020, used their sprawling EG Group petrol forecourt business to lend $7m (£5.6m) to two private jet companies they owned in 2022, according to the Financial Times.

The filings show that $5m (£4m) was handed to one Issa-owned company, which owned a Bombardier Global 6000 plane, while $2m (£1.6m) went to another Issa-controlled company, which owned a smaller private jet.

Both companies are registered in the Isle of Man.

Last year, the FT first reported that EG Group had issued a €39m (£33m) unsecured loan to the companies to buy the jets.

The revelations come as the brothers’ debt-laden takeover of Asda has come under increased scrutiny in recent months.

In September, Darren Jones, the then chair of the parliamentary business committee, requested details about the retailer’s corporate structure, investments and profit margins on petrol.

He also asked for more details about EG Group loans issued for the purchase of the two jets by the Issas.

EG Group said: “As previously disclosed to the Financial Times in 2022, loans to the [Isle of Man] companies are fully disclosed in the EG Group accounts and continue to be so.

“These loans have been provided at rates comparable to the average commercial rate of interest. The interest has been identified and recognised within EG Group’s finance income.”