Asda faces increased interest payments of at least £30m from February as loans taken on by the billionaire Issa brothers to fund the £6.8bn purchase of the supermarket start to become due (Sky News).
Asda’s debt interest bill will climb above £400m within weeks as surging interest rates heap pressure on the private equity-owned supermarket (The Telegraph £).
MPs on the business and trade committee questioned the supermarket’s executives over its finances, more than two years after its debt-laden takeover by the billionaire brothers, Mohsin and Zuber Issa, and the private equity group TDR Capital (The Guardian).
Asda’s co-owner has insisted he is the best person to run the debt-laden grocer as an 18-month hunt for a chief executive drags on (The Mail).
Turkish brewer Anadolu Efes has agreed to acquire AB InBev’s stake in a $1.3bn Russian joint venture in a sign of Turkey’s continued close corporate ties to Russia, as Western companies struggle to offload their assets in the country (The Financial Times £).
The Tempus shares column in The Times (£) focuses on Associated British Foods, which is on course to finish the year as one of the best performers in the FTSE 100. It holds a ‘buy’ rating on the stock and says the shares remain “too cheaply valued”.
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