On completion of its acquisition of EG Group’s UK business for £2.07bn, Asda has announced plans to roll out Asda Express across EG UK’s 356 predominantly freehold sites – which include modern convenience stores on petrol filling stations (PFS), and benefit from high footfall and traffic flow.
This transaction builds on Asda’s acquisition of 119 convenience sites with attached PFS from the Co-op Group, which started to convert to the Asda Express fascia earlier this month (October 2023), and the successful launch of three stand-alone Asda Express convenience sites since October 2022.
The EG and Co-op acquisitions, plus the three Asda Express stores currently open, give Asda 478 convenience stores today, with a commitment to opening a further 300 stand-alone convenience stores by the end of 2026. This is in addition to its existing estate of 580 supermarkets and 31 Asda Living stores, as well as 321 PFS sites.
Growth in the convenience sector is a key part of Asda’s ambition to become the UK’s second largest supermarket while accelerating its move into the £62bn foodservice market, with the transfer of 462 Greggs, Burger King and Subway outlets as franchise agreements. Asda now wholly owns Leon, which it will also look to introduce to its stores. The acquisition of EG Group’s UK business will create a group with expected combined revenues of nearly £28bn, serving some 21m customers every week.
It has been announced that Lord Stuart Rose will continue in his role as chairman of the new, combined business alongside Dame Alison Carnwath as non-executive director as well as Mohsin Issa and Gary Lindsay as directors of the combined business. The board continues its recruitment process for a permanent chief executive.
Lord Stuart Rose, chair of Asda, said: “As families continue to face into cost-of-living challenges, bringing Asda’s long-standing value in groceries and fuel to even more communities is a win for UK consumers. Asda has shown through its actions over the last 18 months that it is firmly on the side of consumers - whether that’s through its Just Essentials range, Kids Eat for £1 or Asda Rewards – which has put over £200m back in the pockets of shoppers through their Cashpot. This commitment is backed up by the fact it has held the title of the lowest-priced traditional supermarket for 26 years in a row. The combination of Asda and EG UK will only create more opportunities for Asda to bring that focus on value to even more communities – as well as driving the sustainable growth of the business through a convenience offer of genuine scale and substance.”
Mohsin Issa, co-owner of Asda, added: “We have worked at pace over the last 12 months to deliver a compelling convenience proposition from a standing start - as well as investing more than £120m in lowering the price and further improving the quality of our food. With the deal complete, we can focus on delivering the growth opportunities. That means lowering the price of fuel for more motorists, bringing Asda’s great value and quality to more communities, offering greater opportunities to our supplier partners and creating sustainable job opportunities for colleagues in our stores and depots. I’d like to thank the teams at Asda for their efforts to bring this transaction to completion and welcome our new colleagues from EG UK who have joined the Asda family.”
EG Group was advised on the sale by commercial law firm Freeths.
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