In October 2015, TDR Capital purchased a minority stake in Euro Garages for £1.3 billion.[4] In October 2016, TDR Capital's European Forecourt Retail Group (EFR) merged with Euro Garages to form Intervias Group, which would later be renamed EG Group.[5]
The group's acquisitions have been largely funded by debt, with a net debt of nearly £8 billion in March 2023, with the group exploring various sales of assets and sale-and-leaseback on some of its properties to reduce this debt.[6]
In March 2006, the group began its first commercial franchise partnership with retailer Spar, opening convenience stores at its forecourts, as well as providing Coffee Nation dispensers to motorists.[9] In October 2006, the group began rolling out Subway concessions at its forecourts.[10]
By February 2009, Euro Garages had 73 forecourts across North England and the Midlands.[11]
In January 2010, the group began franchising Starbucks locations, and in November of that year began a franchise agreement with Burger King.[12]
In February 2013, Euro Garages acquired 45 Esso petrol stations in North England and Wales from ExxonMobil, who were offloading their forecourt sites to focus on their core production and refining business.[13][14] In the same month, the group acquired a number of vacant Little Chef premises, to transform into Starbucks franchises.[15]
In July 2013, the group entered into a trial agreement with Greggs, who wanted to enter the food-to-go sector.[16]
In January 2014, Euro Garages acquired another 48 Esso forecourts in the Midlands, nearly doubling Euro Garages' reach to 180 sites across the UK.[17] In April 2015, the group acquired another 104 Esso forecourts.[18] In October 2015, the group purchased 68 forecourts from Shell.[19]
TDR Capital and international expansion (2015–2023)
In October 2015, TDR Capital purchased a minority stake in Euro Garages.[20]
In February 2016, Euro Garages formed a franchise partnership with KFC.[21]
In October 2016, Euro Garages merged with TDR Capital's European Forecourt Retail group (EFR), to create Intervias Group, a new group comprising 1,450 locations, with a presence in the UK, France, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg.[22]
In January 2017, Intervias Group began a trial to roll-out Sainsbury's Local to forecourts in the UK, though these were unsuccessful and were changed to Spar.[23]
In February 2017, Intervias Group purchased 78 UK properties from Kout Food Group, this including all 70 Little Chef sites (some with attached Burger King and Subway franchises) and 8 standalone Burger King sites.[24] The group would then transform the Little Chef sites into franchise partners by October 2018.[25] The group founded EG Diner as a stopgap in January 2018, when its licence to use the Little Chef name expired, ending the Little Chef brand after almost 60 years.[26]
In November 2017, the business secured approximately 1,000 petrol stations from Esso in Germany, which would be transferred and integrated into the existing network by October 2018.[27]
In December 2017, Intervias Group announced a partnership with Krispy Kreme in the UK.[28]
In January 2018, Intervias Group announced that it had completed the acquisition of circa 1,200 sites in Italy from Esso.[29] In April 2018, Intervias Group completed the acquisition of a portfolio of 97 sites in the Netherlands to supplement is existing network in the country.[30]
On 5 February 2018, Intervias Group announced that it would purchase nearly eight hundred Kroger convenience stores for $2.15 billion.[31] In December 2018, EG Group completed its acquisition of 225 sites of Minit Mart from Travel Centers of America LLC for upwards of US$330m.[32]
On 9 November 2018, Australian retailer Woolworths announced to the Australian Securities Exchange it had entered into a binding agreement to sell its 540 fuel convenience sites to EG Group for A$1.72bn. This created EG Australia.[33]
In early 2019, the EG Group launched its second partnership with Sainsbury's, to launch Sainsbury's On the Go, a concept of very small stores selling cold food, drinks and confectionary in its existing service stations.[34]
In July 2019, EG Group completed its acquisition of fifty four Fastrac branded sites in the United States,[35] and announced a deal to acquire sixty nine sites operated by Certified Oil, also in the United States.[36] On 31 July 2019, EG Group announced having entered a binding agreement to purchase Cumberland Farms.[37][38][39] EG America has become the nation's fourth largest convenience store chain following 7-Eleven's purchase of Speedway, and with Circle K and Casey's occupying the other spots ahead of EG America.[40][41] Some EG America locations have begun offering franchised food concepts at their locations, such as Subway, Burger King, Sbarro, and Hunt Brothers Pizza, to compete better with chains that have long-established in-house food products.[42]
Former Loaf 'N Jug now a Kroger's Smith's Express in Gillette, Wyoming
In early 2020, EG Group announced that they were opening 150 UK bakery outlets under a partnership with Cinnabon by 2025.[44][45]
In March 2020, EG Group acquired 145 KFC outlets in the UK and Ireland from The Herbert Group.[46]
In October 2020, the Issa brothers and TDR Capital won a deal to buy the supermarket chain Asda from Walmart for £6.8 billion, bringing it back into British hands after more than 20 years.[47] Questions were raised after its auditor, Deloitte, "suddenly quit" to be replaced by KPMG.[48] However, the group indicated there were no auditing disagreements.[48] This acquisition would mean EG Group would work with Asda to create 'Asda on the Move' and 'Asda Express', transforming a number of its existing Spar sites.[49] This would mean that 'Sainsbury's On the Go' would be phased out.[34]
In November 2020, EG Group entered into a binding agreement for the acquisition of 18 locations of Schrader Oil in Fort Collins, Colorado.[50]
In May 2021, EG Group bought Leon Restaurants in the UK for a reported £100 million.[48]
In September 2021, EG Group acquired 52 British KFC restaurants from Amsric Group, becoming the largest KFC franchisee in western Europe.[51]
In April 2022, The Wall Street Journal reported that Circle K parent Alimentation Couche-Tard was in talks to buy EG Group. This deal would significantly boost Circle K's presence in several markets including Europe, as well as giving it a location in every US state except Utah.[54]
In May 2022, EG Group bought 285 petrol stations in Southern Germany from OMV, which were partly supplied by refinery Burghausen. The price was 485 million Euro cash which equals 614 million Euro including pending lease obligations.[55]
Restructure plan (2023–present)
In March 2023, EG sold and leased back 415 of its American convenience stores to Realty Income for $1.5 billion (£1.18bn) to help to drive down its debts.[56]
In May 2023, it was announced that EG Group would spin-off the majority of the UK business to Asda: it would include the majority of the petrol stations, which would be rebranded under the Asda Express sub-brand, Greggs, Subway and Burger King franchises and the Leon Restaurants chain. The Cooplands chain, KFC, Cinnabon and Starbucks franchises and some of the petrol stations would be retained by EG Group, with the forecourts being rebranded to EG On The Move.[57][58] The Issa brothers and TDR Capital already own a majority stake in Asda. The deal was finalised on 31 October 2023.[59][60]
On 6 December 2023, EG Group announced that they would sell their 218 KFC UK and Ireland restaurants to KFC owner Yum! Brands for an undisclosed sum, meaning EG Group will leave the Irish market.[61]
In March 2024, it emerged that Zuber Issa may acquire some assets from EG Group, and then operate them independently.[62]
A filling station is a facility that sells fuel and engine lubricants for motor vehicles. The most common fuels sold in the 2010s were gasoline and diesel fuel.
Safeway Limited is a British groceries brand, and former chain of supermarkets and convenience shops. The British Safeway was founded in 1962 by the American Safeway Inc., before being sold to Argyll Foods in 1987. It was later listed on the London Stock Exchange. It was purchased by Morrisons in March 2004. Most of its 479 shops were rebranded as Morrisons, with others being sold. Safeway-branded shops disappeared from the United Kingdom on 24 November 2005.
Asda Stores Limited, trading as Asda and often styled as ASDA, is a British supermarket chain. Its headquarters are in Leeds, England. The company was incorporated as Associated Dairies and Farm Stores in 1949. It expanded into Southern England during the 1970s and 1980s, and acquired Allied Carpets, 61 large Gateway Supermarkets and other businesses, such as MFI Group. It sold these acquisitions during the 1990s to concentrate on the supermarkets. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange until 1999 when it was acquired by Walmart for £6.7 billion. Asda was the second-largest supermarket chain in the United Kingdom between 2003 and 2014 by market share, at which point it fell into third place.
J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is a British supermarket and the second-largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom, with a 14.6% share of UK supermarket sales in September 2022.
Esso is a trading name for ExxonMobil. Originally, the name was primarily used by its predecessor Standard Oil of New Jersey after the breakup of the original Standard Oil company in 1911. The company adopted the name "Esso", to which the other Standard Oil companies would later object.
Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc., or simply Couche-Tard, is a Canadian multinational operator of convenience stores. The company has 14,302 stores across Canada, the United States, Mexico, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Japan, China, and Indonesia. The company operates its corporate stores mainly under the Couche-Tard, Circle K, and On the Run brands but also under the affiliated brands Mac's Convenience Stores, go!, 7-jours, Dairy/Daisy Mart, Becker's and Winks.
Circle K Stores, Inc. is an American chain of convenience stores that is headquartered in Tempe, Arizona, and owned by Alimentation Couche-Tard, Inc., based in Laval, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1951 in El Paso, Texas, the company filed for bankruptcy protection in 1990 and went through several owners, before being acquired by Alimentation Couche-Tard in 2003. As of February 2020, Circle K has 9,799 stores in North America, 2,697 stores in Europe, and an additional 2,380 stores operating under franchise agreements worldwide.
Moto Hospitality Limited, trading as Moto, is a British service station operator which operates 59 motorway service stations across the United Kingdom. It is currently the UK's largest service area operator.
On the Run is a flagship convenience store brand developed by ExxonMobil, used at Exxon and Mobil stations in the United States and at Esso and Mobil stations internationally. Alimentation Couche-Tard acquired the On the Run trademark and franchise network in the U.S. in 2009, and Parkland Fuel did the same in Canada in 2016; ExxonMobil retains full ownership of the brand in the rest of the world.
Cooplands is the second largest bakery chain in the UK with over 160 outlets and 12 cafes located primarily across Yorkshire, County Durham and Lincolnshire in the United Kingdom. Cooplands produces takeaway food chiefly for the lunch-time trade, specialising in sandwiches, pasties, desserts, cakes, and bread. It competes with other local cafés and takeaway outlets, and national and international high street food chains and franchises.
Murco is an oil refining company based in the United Kingdom. It was set up by Murphy Oil Corporation in 1960. The company owns a forecourt-based chain of convenience stores of Costcutter. Murco purchased a 30% stake in Amoco’s Milford Haven Refinery in 1981, and the remaining 70% in 2007.
Little Chef was a chain of restaurants in the United Kingdom, founded in 1958 by entrepreneur Sam Alper, who was inspired by American diners. The chain was famous for the "Olympic Breakfast" – its version of a full English – as well as its "Early Starter" and "Jubilee Pancakes". The restaurants were mostly located on A roads, often paired with a Travelodge motel, a Burger King and a petrol station. The chain was also located along motorways in Moto Services, for a time.
Palmer and Harvey plc was a UK-based wholesaler that serviced the multiples and convenience sectors.
In March 2012 Unite trades union warned it was considering a strike over health and safety standards. Unite represents around 2,000 tanker drivers, who deliver fuel to 90% of Britain's forecourts. Although no strike took place, Government action precipitated panic-buying and a woman was seriously injured after following a minister's advice to store extra petrol.
Leon is a fast food chain based in the United Kingdom, established in 2004. The company had around 70 outlets when it was bought by EG Group in 2021. Since October 2023, most of EG Group's former UK and Ireland business, including Leon, has been owned by the supermarket chain Asda.
Kout Food Group K.S.C.C. is a Kuwaiti-based conglomerate, founded in 1982, operating in Kuwait, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Iraq, and formerly in the United Kingdom. The business also offer catering services, import and export of food related items, representation of foreign companies as well as advising others in such businesses.
TDR Capital LLP is a British private equity firm headquartered in London, England.
Mohsin Issa CBE and Zuber Issa CBE are British-Indian billionaire brothers and businessmen who founded Euro Garages in 2001, a Blackburn-based operator of filling stations, convenience stores and food service providers across Europe, the United States and Australia. In 2020, as part of a consortium with TDR Capital, the brothers became majority stakeholders in the British supermarket chain Asda.
Park Garage Group is a family-owned British operator of filling stations in the United Kingdom, founded in 1975.
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