The billionaire brothers who started their business with a garage forecourt in Bury and now own supermarket giant Asda have snapped up fast food chain Leon for up to £100million.
Mohsin and Zuber Issa who own the giant petrol forecourt business EG Group have agreed to buy the business, co-founded by Boris Johnson’s food tsar Henry Dimbleby.
Leon’s UK sites are mainly London-based but it also has outlets in cities such as Leeds, Birmingham and Manchester, plus overseas sites in the Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland and Gran Canaria.
Leon’s directors said it enjoyed ‘solid trading’ before the pandemic. But its restaurants – primarily based in city centres and transport hubs – have been hit hard by the collapse in commuter numbers and 11 UK sites are closed.
