The billionaire brothers who own Asda are considering a £1bn sale of part of their US petrol station empire.
First reported by Sky News, the Issa brothers' EG Group has hired investment bankers at Eastdil to lead the process.
When contacted by BusinessLive, a spokesman said the group would not be commenting on the news, but did not deny the report.
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EG Group is jointly owned by the Issa brothers and TDR Capital, the private equity firm they partnered with to acquire Asda in 2021.
The group, whose brands include Euro Garages, Coopland and Leon, has over 6,600 sites across the world.
Mohsin and Zuber Issa started out with a single petrol station in Bury, Greater Manchester, in 2001.
According to the latest Sunday Times Rich List, they are worth a combined £4.73bn.
In its most recent trading update, for the three months to September 30, 2022, EG Group's total revenue increased to £8bn from the $7.1bn it reported during the same period in 2021.
The group's EBITDA also increased from $428m to $437m, with fuel gross profits rising from $511m to $594m and foodservice gross profit going from $171m to $179m.
Grocery and merchandise gross profit dipped from $370m to £365m over the same period.
At the time, Zuber Issa said: "We are pleased with the third-quarter performance, which again proves the resilience of the group against the prevalent global uncertainty.
"During this period, the benefit of our geographic diversification was demonstrated as the performance of the US and Australian businesses offset the weaker UK trading, with significant cost headwinds in energy, labour and logistics costs that also impacted our other markets.
"Despite these macro-economic challenges, we continued to deliver against our strategic objectives by our ongoing investment in non-fuel retail, driving further innovation and cost efficiencies with our major brand partners and finally, strengthening our convenience store proposition with the ongoing rollout of Asda 'On the Move' across our UK forecourt network.
"The publication of our first ESG report in October was a milestone moment for the company, setting out our net zero ambitions and our energy transition plans to lower-carbon fuels.
"Our disciplined rollout will see ultra-fast charging being made available at a further 20 EG sites by the end of this year and we are exploring a range of options to further accelerate this proposition.
"We are already seeing the benefits of combining EV charging infrastructure with our multi-service sites, which allow consumers to enjoy a meal or a cup of coffee, or shop for groceries while they wait for their car to charge.
"The continued hard work of our colleagues was critical in the last quarter, and we remain committed to supporting them, our customers and our communities during these challenging times.
"Looking ahead, we remain cautious about the macro-economic outlook, but are confident that we have a highly resilient business, which is well-placed to outperform the wider market.
"Finally, I would like to congratulate Imraan Patel on his recent promotion to chief strategy and business officer, building on his original appointment as group general counsel and company secretary in 2016, and welcome Michael Bradley as our newly appointed group CFO.
"Along with the rest of our senior leadership team, I believe the group has the necessary strategic leadership expertise and depth of operational experience to ensure we successfully traverse the economic challenges facing everybody."
As of September 2022, EG Group's net debt stood at £9bn.
The group employs more than 50,000 people working in over 6,600 sites across the UK and Ireland, Europe, USA and Australia.
The Issa brothers own Asda separately to EG Group.
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