Lancashire brothers and new Asda owners in 'asset stripping' row

The GMB union has claimed alleged plans for “sale and leaseback” at Asda amount to “asset stripping”.
AsdaAsda
Asda

Asda’s new owners the Blackburn-based Issa brothers have reportedly drafted in advisers to prepare for the sale of up to 25 distribution centres, including Heston, Dartford, Bristol, Washington, Wakefield, Didcot and Lutterworth.

GMB, the union for Asda workers, has branded the company’s "sale and leaseback" plans amount to asset stripping.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Asda owners Mohsin and Zuber Issa have reportedly drafted in advisers to prepare for the sale of up to 25 distribution centres, including Heston, Dartford, Bristol, Washington, Wakefield, Didcot and Lutterworth.

Mohsin and Zuber IssaMohsin and Zuber Issa
Mohsin and Zuber Issa

The company's logistics portfolio is likely to include around seven million square feet of assets, drawing in more than £1 billion.

Roger Jenkins, GMB National Officer, said: “This plan is nothing more than asset stripping. Private equity sharks are shaping up to extract as much profit out of the business as they can up front - before they’ve even got their feet under the table.

“Telling our members this plan ‘will have no implications on colleagues’ is a fantasy designed to try and alleviate the deep anxiety this announcement is bound to cause.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“The Issa Brothers need to stop and think about the proud history and heritage of the profit-making supermarket they are seeking to acquire.”

Neither the Issa brothers or their Asda partners TDR Capital have commented on the claims.

The Asda deal has still to be approved by the regulatory authorities.

* The Lancashire Post is more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription to support our journalism.

For unlimited access to Lancashire news and information online, you can subscribe here: https://www.lep.co.uk/subscriptions

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.