Zuber Issa has agreed to buy 85 petrol stations from collapsed Prax Group, taking his three-year-old EG On The Move business to 285 forecourts and ensuring that the leading British entrepreneur is building a second petrol company at speed.
The billionaire, who set up EG On The Move as a separate business in 2023, has acquired EG Group’s UK operations and 98 courts from Applegreen. The Prax deal is the latest in a string of quick buyouts, and it will come as no surprise to anyone who has watched his work buy while others sell.
For small business owners who manage sites, changing ownership is a very important detail. 85 courts will continue to be operated by independent commission managers, EG On The Move promises to invest more in takeaways, electric car charging, retail and customer services.
Zuber Issa said: “We look forward to working with each operator to build on the strengths of their business, helping to make the entire site more efficient, competitive and more attractive to customers.”
The sites are the result of one of the most dramatic corporate collapses the UK oil sector has seen. Prax Group, founded by Sanjeev Kumar Soosaipillai and his wife Arani Soosaipillai, was dissolved last year under mounting financial pressure, forcing several key companies into management and causing the biggest UK fuel supply failure in recent years.
The company owned the Lindsey oil refinery, at one point supplied around a tenth of Britain’s petrol, and operated offshore fields under the TotalEnergies and Harvest Energy brands. The management has since been accused of widespread financial irregularities, which Mr Soosaipillai disputes, and the conduct of former directors remains the subject of an ongoing investigation by the Insolvency Service.
For entrepreneurs, the difference between buyer and seller is instructive. Zuber Issa, 54, and his brother Mohsin bought a garage in Bury, Greater Manchester, in 2001 and built the EG Group into one of Europe’s biggest garage operators. The brothers bought Asda in 2020 but have since split their business, with Zuber selling his stake in the supermarket in 2024 and focusing on high-street stores, alongside side projects such as the revival of motor oil brand Duckhams.
His renewed bet on the former comes even with electric and plug-in hybrid cars outstripping petrol-only models in the UK for the first time. The answer, on this evidence, is to make the front field much more fuel efficient. EG On The Move says it will work with commission operators to improve site performance while investing in grocery brands, food service brands, car washes and EV fast charging throughout the newly acquired network.
Time is not by mistake. The former EG Group business, now operating under the name Cumberland Farms, has privately listed on the New York stock market at a valuation of around $9bn (£6.75bn), a move the brothers have long pursued. The listing is expected to give the Issa brothers a stake worth around $2.3bn each, cementing their position among Britain’s richest businessmen.
The transaction was advised by Cleary Gottlieb, PwC and the firm’s banking partners.
For UK independent frontline operators, the lesson is a familiar one: when a major supplier fails, integrators move quickly, and successful businesses are those that are different beyond the pump.
