Asda owners eye continental Europe c-store expansion

Mohsin and Zuber Issa are reported to be mulling whether the Asda on the Move convenience store chain could be opened across some of EG Group’s more than 3,000 petrol forecourts across continental Europe, according to the Sunday Times. 

The Issa brothers are planning on opening 200 Asda on the Move convenience stores on EG Group forecourts in the UK by the end of next year and are also said to be eyeing up new smaller format supermarkets. 

In existing supermarkets, the brothers and partner TDR Capital are said to be considering rolling out food courts, increasing the clothing offering and introducing more health and beauty brands. 

EG Group operates petrol forecourts in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Italy, but any expansion of Asda on the Move into those regions would be complicated by the added red tape being experienced by retailers since Brexit. 

The Issa brothers acquisition of Asda also heaped around £3.7bn in debt on Asda, which recently increased when EG Group announced it was pulling out of a deal to acquire the grocer’s petrol forecourts.