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Mohsin Issa, the co-founder of petrol station chain EG Group, is stepping down as the company’s chief executive ahead of the group’s planned initial public offering.
Russell Colaco, the UK-headquartered company’s current chief financial officer, has been appointed as Issa’s replacement, it said on Friday.
The chain, which is co-owned by UK private equity firm TDR Capital, Issa and his brother Zuber, has been exploring a listing in New York after offloading the majority of its UK business to Asda. The supermarket group is also owned by TDR Capital and Mohsin Issa.
“Now is the natural time for me to step back from my day-to-day duties at EG as it embarks on the next stage of its journey,” Mohsin Issa said in a statement.
“Following the sale of the majority of the UK business to Asda, the group is a very different company now,” he added. “The US market is now the largest region by sales . . . and where EG needs to have its lead executives based.”
After founding it in 2001, Mohsin and Zuber previously operated as co-chief executives of the petrol station chain. They had also worked together as co-chiefs of Asda after agreeing to buy it with TDR in 2020.
But last year Zuber Issa stepped back from his roles at both EG Group and Asda, and in September Mohsin Issa stepped back from running Asda.
Lord Stuart Rose, Asda’s chair, said last summer that he had been “embarrassed” by the supermarket’s decline,and that Mohsin Issa should step back from day-to-day operations.
The Financial Times reported earlier this year that EG Group was exploring the sale of some of its European businesses and its Australia operations to tilt its focus towards the US and help ease its debt burden ahead of its planned IPO.
EG Group, which could be valued at about $13bn at IPO, is aiming for about two-thirds of its revenues to come from the US by the time it lists, up from one-third last year.
New chief executive Colaco joined the company last summer. “I look forward to working closely with the management team as we continue to evolve and grow the business,” he said.
Mohsin Issa will retain a substantial minority shareholding and remain on the board as a non-executive director.
