The Issa brothers are putting in another order at Caffe Nero.
The billionaire Asda owners are launching an audacious raid on the chain by buying part of its £350m debt pile.
Mohsin and Zuber Issa have reportedly approached lenders to the coffee chain seeking to build a £180m position that would allow them to bid for control in a debt-for-equity swap if Caffè Nero was forced to restructure its borrowings.
EG’s interest in Caffè Nero, which has 800 sites in the UK, emerged in December when it offered to buy the chain from its founder and main shareholder, Gerry Ford. It came the day before landlords were due to vote on a CVA. The approach was rejected, and EG later hired the law firm CMS and property agents CWM to rally landlords against the CVA, in which landlords forfeited most outstanding rent payments.
