Billionaire Asda co-owner Mohsin Issa has confirmed he is a relationship with Victoria Price, a former tax partner at EY after it was revealed the firm resigned as auditor of Asda in July of last year.
Price had been working at the big-four firm since September 2006, latterly as a partner heading up its EMEIA private tax unit. According to the Telegraph, she resigned from EY the day after the firm resigned as Asda auditor.
In a statement, representatives for Issa and Price said she was not an audit partner at EY and has never worked on the Asda business. EY confirmed to her that she met all her obligations and made all appropriate disclosures to the firm’s ethics and compliance teams throughout her career.
The pair said in a statement: "Victoria and Mohsin are highly private people who are in a relationship and building a life together. They ask that the privacy of themselves and their respective families is respected going forward."
An Asda spokesperson said: “In a letter last summer, EY confirmed that they would not be able to undertake the enlarged audit – taking into account the acquisition of the EG UK&I business and the significant increase in scale and complexity of the group within the timetable to issue their audit opinion for the year ended 31 Dec 2023. We notified investors about this on 8 August 2023.”
Headquartered in London, EY is the third largest accounting business in the world with an annual turnover of $50 billion.
EY's departure marks the second time a big-four firm resigned as auditors for Mohsin and his brother Zuber Issa last year after KPMG quit as Leon auditor.
The Issa brothers, alongside American private equity fund TDR, bought Asda in 2021 after making billions through a petrol forecourt empire.
Last year, Asda acquired the pair's EG UK petrol forecourt business. MPs have questioned the debt-heavy nature of the initial deal to buy Asda, and the complicated ownership structure of the businesses.
According to the 2023 Sunday Times Rich List, the Issa Brothers have a combined net worth of £5.05 billion.
EY's resignation and the relationship were first reported last week in the Telegraph. The new auditor for Asda is KPMG.
