"It would be a logical next step"
Blackburn-based company Euro Garages are considering a Stock Exchange flotation of their petrol station and convenience stores business.
It is a move that could net the founders Mohsin Issa and Zuber Issa £5 billion.
If the public share sale goes ahead, it would make the brothers among the 30 richest families in the UK.
According to American financial news outlet Bloomberg, the flotation could take place during the second half of 2020, potentially on New York’s Wall Street Stock Exchange.
They value the company at £10 billion, meaning that it would make the Issa brothers’ 56% stake worth more than £5 billion.
Mohsin, aged 48, and Zuber, aged 47, founded Euro Garages after they purchased a petrol forecourt in Bury in 2001 for £150,000.
They quickly expanded their business across East Lancashire and the UK, eventually creating Euro Garages.
The company’s headquarters are on Haslingden Road in Beehive Trading Park.
In 2015, the company merged with private equity firm TDR Capital’s Forecourt Retail Group to create the EG Group. TDR Capital’s £1 billion purchase of a minority stake took the company to a new level.
The company expanded into Europe and the United States.
It has acquired more than 1,700 sites in the United States and is taking its first steps into mainland Europe and Australia.
In 2018, it had a turnover of over £12 billion and it currently employs 25,000 staff.
The Issa brothers’ parents came to Blackburn from India during the 1960s. Not only do they own luxury homes in Blackburn but they also own a mansion in Knightsbridge, Central London, worth £25 million.
Miranda Barker, chief executive of the East Lancashire Chamber of Commerce, called the flotation plans the next logical step.
She said: “It would be a logical next step to float the company.
“When businesses reach this size, it is often how they raise capital. If they want to raise the money to keep up their current pace of expansion it would make sense.
“I would hope if this happens that the business remains East Lancashire-centric with its heart and soul in Blackburn.”
Lancashire Telegraph reported that despite the plans to potentially float the company on the Stock Exchange, a spokesperson for EG Group declined to comment on the reports.
The company sells fuel under brands such as Esso, BP, Shell and Texaco. Its sites host food and drink outlets including the likes of Burger King, Starbucks and Subway.
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