Both companies are registered in the Isle of Man.
It has emerged that the billionaire Issa brothers borrowed millions of pounds from their petrol forecourt company to repay the debt taken on to buy two private jets.
According to corporate filings, Mohsin and Zuber Issa, who own Asda, used their EG Group to lend £5.6 million to two private jet companies they owned in 2022.
The filings revealed more than £4 million was handed to one Issa-owned company, which controls a Bombardier Global 6000 plane.
The remaining £1.6 million went to another one of their companies, which owns a smaller Bombardier plane.
Both companies are registered in the Isle of Man.
In 2023, it was reported that EG Group had issued a £33 million unsecured loan to the companies to rebuy the jets in 2018.
In recent months, the Issa brothers’ takeover of Asda has come under fire, with politicians questioning the structure of their ownership.
The brothers and the private equity group TDR Capital acquired Asda in 2020 in a deal worth £6.8 million.
However, the brothers put in only £100 million of their own money, alongside £100 million from TDR Capital.
The remainder was funded by the largest sterling corporate bond sale on record, as well as a loan from the parent company of EG Group.
In September 2023, Darren Jones, the then chair of parliament’s business and trade select committee, requested details of the retailer’s corporate structure, capital investment and profit margins on petrol.
He also asked for more details of loans issued by the EG Group for the purchase of the jets for the Issa brothers.
The jet companies also borrowed money from the Bank of America, which has security over the two planes.
It was reported that the £5.6 million of new loans made in 2022 would be enough to cover all but £790,000 of the amount EG said it received in interest repayments from the two companies that year.
However, a source told the Financial Times the money was used to pay interest and principal instead on external debt owed to third parties. The initial amount was borrowed in a loan.
EG Group said: “As previously disclosed to the Financial Times in 2022, loans to the [Isle of Man] companies are fully disclosed in the EG Group accounts and continue to be so.
“These loans have been provided at rates comparable to the average commercial rate of interest.
“The interest has been identified and recognised within EG Group’s finance income.”
This comes amid rumours Zuber could be set to offload his stake in Asda.
It was also revealed that Mohsin had left his wife of 30 years and moved into an £18 million home with his lover Victoria Price.
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