BLACKBURN’S billionaire Issa brothers have abandoned plans to transfer Asda’s 300 plus fuel forecourts to their original EG Group.

In February they announced that their former Euro-Garages business intended to buy the supermarket giant’s filling stations for £750million.

But now having studied the financial details of the deal, the brothers and their Blackburn-headquartered EG Group have decided the figures don’t add up.

The 323 forecourts and their profits and losses will now remain on Asda’s balance sheet.

However the planned roll-out of 200 Asda-on-the-Move convenience stores to EG Group petrol stations at the expense of existing Spar shops will continue.

Plans to locate Starbucks drive-thrus on some Asda filling stations to match their presence on EG Group forecourts will also proceed.

Brothers Mohsin and Zuber Issa, backed by TDR Capital, bought the supermarket chain in a £6.8bn deal in October last year. That transaction was completed earlier this year.

The EG Group’s sale of 27 of its 370 petrol forecourts, announced in June to satisfy the UK competition regulator’s concerns that the takeover could lead to higher petrol and diesel prices, will also go ahead as planned.

An EG Group statement said: “On February 3, EG Group announced that it had agreed to acquire certain assets of Asda - the Asda forecourt business.

“On June 16, both the ongoing restrictions imposed under UK Competition Law and the subsequent Competition and Markets Authority “Hold Separate Order” on the acquisition of Asda by TDR Capital and the Issa brothers were lifted.

“This allowed Asda and EG Group’s teams to start sharing commercial information relating to EG’s acquisition of the Asda forecourt business which had not been previously possible and has resulted in several changes to the financial evaluation of the proposed transaction.

“As a result, EG and Asda have decided they will no longer proceed with the transaction and it was terminated as of October 18.

“Key commercial initiatives between EG and Asda are already well under way including the development of plans to introduce foodservice at Asda locations and the expansion of Asda’s convenience offering. "Both companies have confirmed their intention to roll-out the Asda On the Move proposition across EG’s UK forecourts.

"These plans remain unchanged, and the company continues to anticipate synergies as a result of its growing relationship with Asda.”