The Issa Brothers, who own Asda, are 'considering an £8bn takeover of sandwich giant Subway', according to reports.
The self-made billionaires, who started their business empire with a single petrol station in Bury, are thought to be in line to buy the restaurant chain, which has around 44,000 stores nationwide.
Mohsin, 51, and Zuber, 50, who both hail from Blackburn, operates more than 6,600 petrol stations globally under Euro Garages, one of the EU’s largest independent fuel retailers with outlets across Europe, the United States and Australia.
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The business, which launched in 2001, exceeded €20bn in annual sales in 2021. EG Group is jointly owned by the Issa brothers and private equity firm TDR Capital.
EG Group already has Subway outlets located within some of its 340 petrol stations in the UK, The Sun reported.
A source told the paper: "EG Group have felt for a while that Subway treated them the same way as other franchise partners and their massive growth hadn’t been appreciated."
The Issa brothers were warned earlier this month that Asda's £600m proposed deal for the Co-op's petrol station business could result in higher prices or less choice in a number of locations.
The businessmen have now proposed to sell 13 petrol stations in a bid to persuade the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to back the deal.
Following a £6.8bn takeover of Asda in 2021, EG Group has also bought food chain Leon, bakery business Cooplands and helped to launch the UK’s first drive-thru Indian street food restaurant with Chaiiwala on Manchester Road in Bolton.
They have also attempted to acquire the likes of ASOS, Boots, McColl's and Caffè Nero, with plans later falling through.
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