The Blackburn-based entrepreneurial duo of Mohsin and Zuber Issa are reportedly front-running contenders to buy supermarket giant Asda.
Asda's current owners, American firm Walmart, have been seeking a buyer and restarted negotiations in July after the coronavirus pandemic halted progress.
It is now speculated that the two brothers, who founded the Euro Garages group which now employs more than 30,000 around the world, could team up with London-based TDR Capital to purchase a controlling share.
EG already has a working relationship with the supermarket, housing Asda On the Move stores in three of its forecourts.
Should the deal go through, it would value Asda at around £6.5bn and bring the company back under British control for the first time since 1999.
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