The Issa brothers’ debt levels have been a hot topic in the business press for some time. But Spy was taken aback to find out just how steep they are.
In recent annual accounts, one of their firms, EG Finco, claims to have taken out a "Tranche B Euro loan of €591,042m" or about half a trillion pounds. Could this be the biggest corporate debt deal in history?
Turns out it was just a typo. It was 500 million, not billion – so they were only out by a factor of a thousand. The auditors are aware of the issue, Spy understands, but the accounts will not be restated.
The Issa brothers apologised for another mistake recently, in a letter to MPs published today concerning their description of the complex corporate ownership structure for Asda, after the Standard pointed out a number of errors in its description.
Mohsin Issa will be appearing before Parliament again on Tuesday to talk about the use of private equity in the retail sector. Get your calculators ready.
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