New Asda owners acquire LEON for £100m
EG Group expressed plans to open about 20 new LEON outlets a year from 2022.
Months after acquiring supermarket chain Asda, the billionaire brothers behind petrol station business EG Group have bought LEON’s 70-plus restaurants.
The Mail first reported the acquisition is worth up to £100 million as they seeks to expand their food business.
In a joint statement, Mohsin Issa and Zuber Issa said the company was a "fantastic brand we have long admired".
LEON’s John Vincent, who co-founded the firm in 2004, said: "In some ways this is a sad day for me."
"We have tried hard, done some good things, made a healthy amount of mistakes, and built a business that quite a few people are kind enough to say that they love," he added.
The deal includes 42 company-owned restaurants, as well as 29 franchise sites which are mainly found in airports and train stations across the UK and some European countries such as the Netherlands and Spain. The group has committed to keeping on LEON’s management team and staff.
Following the acquisition, EG Group expressed plans to open about 20 new LEON outlets a year from 2022.
