{"id":4485,"date":"2025-10-31T18:06:38","date_gmt":"2025-10-31T18:06:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/business\/leon-founder-buys-back-restaurant-chain-from-supermarket-giant\/"},"modified":"2025-10-31T18:06:38","modified_gmt":"2025-10-31T18:06:38","slug":"leon-founder-buys-back-restaurant-chain-from-supermarket-giant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/business\/leon-founder-buys-back-restaurant-chain-from-supermarket-giant\/","title":{"rendered":"Leon founder buys back restaurant chain from supermarket giant"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"main\">\n<div class=\"hydrate-root sc-10wlkbs-0\" data-component=\"Newsletter\" data-loading=\"lazy\" data-theme-name=\"base\">\n<aside class=\"sc-y4bm30-0 jwWhkK newsletter-component sc-1ge0fwe-0\" data-newsletter-key=\"receiveIndyBreakingNews\">\n<div class=\"sc-y4bm30-2 kcLSBk\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"sc-y4bm30-1 inRDZn\">\n<div class=\"sc-y4bm30-3\">\n<div class=\"sc-y4bm30-4 hfveGa\">\n<p><h3 class=\"sc-y4bm30-5 sc-y4bm30-6 fvoxRM iqEJkX\">For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails<\/h3>\n<h3 class=\"sc-y4bm30-5 sc-y4bm30-8 fvoxRM lbjUDc\">Sign up to our free breaking news emails<\/h3>\n<h3 class=\"sc-y4bm30-5 sc-y4bm30-7 fvoxRM PyuJm\">Sign up to our free breaking news emails<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<p><svg class=\"sc-eaj12q-0 hKcUSR sc-culv3z-0 eifaJK sc-1ix0cah-0 PYnPb sc-y4bm30-10 fUEDPX\"><use href=\"#600f53465147d717\"\/><\/svg><\/div>\n<div class=\"sc-y4bm30-2 kcLSBk sc-y4bm30-9 iQYNfz\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.independent.co.uk\/static-assets\/images\/newsletters\/breakingNews1_1.png\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Breaking News\" class=\"sc-1mc30lb-0 ggpMaE\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<p>The fast-food chain Leon has been reacquired by its co-founder, John Vincent, from Asda. <\/p>\n<p>This follows its takeover by the billionaire Issa brothers four years ago. <\/p>\n<p>Asda confirmed the sale to Mr Vincent, who co-founded Leon in 2004. The deal includes 46 Leon restaurants, 20 UK franchises, three franchised sites in the Netherlands, and one in Italy. Approximately 1,120 staff across the chain will transfer to the new ownership.<\/p>\n<p>The Times reported earlier on Friday that Mr Vincent could pay between \u00a330 million and \u00a350 million for the chain.<\/p>\n<p>This would mark at least a 50% discount on the \u00a3100 million reported purchase price in 2021.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sc-awdjp1-2 cbpRGD sc-awdjp1-3 image align-center\">\n<figure class=\"sc-1cbdeug-0 cXcwgU\">\n<div data-gallery-length=\"2\" class=\"sc-awdjp1-0 dBrhtJ\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.independent.co.uk\/s3fs-public\/thumbnails\/image\/2020\/05\/14\/09\/leon-0.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.independent.co.uk\/s3fs-public\/thumbnails\/image\/2020\/05\/14\/09\/leon-0.jpg?quality=75&amp;width=320&amp;auto=webp 320w, https:\/\/static.independent.co.uk\/s3fs-public\/thumbnails\/image\/2020\/05\/14\/09\/leon-0.jpg?quality=75&amp;width=640&amp;auto=webp 640w\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Leon waffle fries\" class=\"sc-1mc30lb-0 ggpMaE inline-gallery-btn\"\/><\/p>\n<p><button class=\"sc-1uf4o3q-0 dkRtZs inline-gallery-btn\" id=\"trigger-autogallery-63025\"><span class=\"sc-1uf4o3q-1 hwVecx\">open image in gallery<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"sc-1cbdeug-1 sc-1cbdeug-3 ghyfOu hgzWpY\">Leon waffle fries<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Asda did not disclose the sale price, and declined to comment on reports the brand was being bought back at a large discount.<\/p>\n<p>The grocer said the sale reflects efforts to focus on its core retail operations, which incorporates its supermarkets, cafes, pharmacy, and fuel business.<\/p>\n<p>Mr Vincent created Leon with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/henry-dimbleby\">Henry Dimbleby<\/a> and chef Allegra McEvedy to focus on healthy fast food.<\/p>\n<p>It was sold to Mohsin Issa and Zuber Issa\u2019s business EG Group in 2021 before becoming a part of their Asda business in 2023.<\/p>\n<p>Mr Dimbleby recently warned that the Leon brand could be \u201cdestroyed\u201d under Asda\u2019s ownership.<\/p>\n<p>In an interview with The Telegraph, he said the company was abandoning its original goal of selling food that is \u201cconvenient and healthy\u201d in favour of \u201ccheap\u201d, unhealthy alternatives.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/news\/business\/leon-asda-deal-john-vincent-b2856333.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails The fast-food chain Leon has been reacquired by its co-founder, John Vincent, from Asda. This follows its takeover by the&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"more-link-wrap\"><a href=\"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/business\/leon-founder-buys-back-restaurant-chain-from-supermarket-giant\/\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &ldquo;Leon founder buys back restaurant chain from supermarket giant&rdquo;<\/span> &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4486,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static.independent.co.uk\/2025\/10\/31\/18\/76046a5c42165c9972db4a130141086aY29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzYyMDE5MzYw-2.46847990.jpg?width=1200&height=800&crop=1200:800","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4485","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v17.8 (Yoast SEO v22.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Leon founder buys back restaurant chain from supermarket giant - Breaking News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/business\/leon-founder-buys-back-restaurant-chain-from-supermarket-giant\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Leon founder buys back restaurant chain from supermarket giant\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails The fast-food chain Leon has been reacquired by its co-founder, John Vincent, from Asda. 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