Asda’s chief financial officer Michael Gleeson has dismissed talks that its owners are preparing to sell the supermarket giant.
He told The Times that the grocer’s billionaire owners the Issa brothers and private equity firm TDR Capital had a track record “of growth and investing for the long run”.
Gleeson added: “They don’t tend to be in and out of companies — they hold their positions in companies for significant periods of time. So ‘no’ is the answer to that.”
However it comes amid a shakeup for Asda as Zuber Issa is understood to be close to selling his 22.5% stake in the UK supermarket to TDR Capital, in a move that would make the private equity company majority owner.
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Last month, Mohsin Issa also said he was planning to step back from his role at the supermarket and that while he was “here for the long haul,” he would appoint a chief executive to take over daily management of the company.
Gleeson said headhunters have been appointed and that Asda was “actively looking” for a new CEO, adding, “we will make sure that we get the right person to fill that role”.
It comes as Asda is planning to raise over £2.6bn to refinance a portion of its debt load following its reported rise in adjusted earnings of 24% for the 2023 financial year.
Since the supermarket chain was bought out by the billionaire Issa brothers and TDR Capital in a £6.8bn deal in 2021, it has suffered from a mounting debt pile.
According to terms seen by the Financial Times, Asda has begun to market a €1.05bn (£906m) term loan to investors and looks to raise an additional £1.7bn of debt, with the new loan maturing in 2031.
Investors claim the £1.75bn figure will most likely take the form of a bond deal to be unveiled in the coming days.
In its latest financial year, Asda reduced its total net debt to £3.8bn, while free cash flow increased by 31% to £776m.
