Flotation would value Lancashire forecourts group at £10bn
Blackburn-based petrol station and stores operator EG Group is reportedly considering a flotation next year which could value the business at more than £10bn.
A listing could give the founders, brothers Mohsin and Zuber Issa, a stake worth around £5bn.
According to news agency Bloomberg, EG, which is backed by private equity firm TDR Capital, is in talks with banks, although no formal process has been commenced yet.
The report, which Bloomberg said was sourced from people familiar with the situation, says an IPO (initial public offering) could take place in the second half of 2020.
EG is, reportedly, considering a listing in the United States, where it operates a network of locations.
TDR Capital bought a minority stake in EG, known at the time as EuroGarages, in early 2016 for £1.13bn.
It changed name to EG Group after it merged with TDR’s European Forecourt Retailer in November 2016.
EG operates 5,200 sites across Europe, Australia and the US comprising petrol stations and convenience stores, and employs around 30,000 staff.
The business was founded in 2001 by brothers Mohsin and Zuber Issa with their first garage forecourt in Bury, and has expanded rapidly through a series of acquisitions in Europe and the US.
It is reportedly meeting investors this week regarding the raising of £1.1bn to fund the acquisition of Cumberland Farms, an American regional chain of convenience stores which operates about 600 sites in seven Northeast states and Florida.
EG Group is pleased to announce that it has entered into a binding agreement for the acquisition of Cumberland Farms in the USA. For more information, visit our website. https://t.co/Qj7591IM1s
— EG Group (@TheEGGroup) July 31, 2019
EG agreed to acquire Cumberland Farms in July this year.
The acquisition will make EG the fifth-largest independent convenience store operator in the US.
EG Group acquired 540 Woolworths sites in Australia last year.
Among its other major 2018 acquisitions were Kroger Co.’s US convenience store business, Esso petrol stations in Germany and Italy, and NRGValue in the Netherlands.
It posted total revenues of about £10.47bn for 2018, according to its last annual report.
