The sunny gas station forecourts of the U.S. Midwest have suddenly acquired a strong bond with the less sunny North West of England.

EG Group, based in Blackburn, has acquired 225 Mini Mart-branded convenience retail stores and gas stations and some other related assets in a $305M deal.

Mini Mart operates across nine Midwest U.S. states and will slot into a growing convenience store operation there.

Earlier this year, EG Group acquired a 762-site convenience store business in the United States from Kroger Co. operating under a variety of brands from Turkey Hill and Loaf ‘N Jug to Kwik Shop, Tom Thumb and Quik Stop.

EG Group will now run its 1,000 U.S. outlets from Cincinnati.

EG Group's Mohsin Issa and Zuber Issa, both co-founders and co-chief executives, are now said to be among the richest business people in the U.K. thanks to their Euro Garages empire.

The billionaire brothers replaced the terraced house in which they were born with a £25M Knightsbridge mansion. Earlier this summer they caused controversy by planning to build five mansions just miles from their original home.

“For the past 17 years, we have had a vision of becoming a leading gas station/convenience store operator around the world. This is another exciting international milestone on our growth journey," Zuber Issa said.

"The Mini Mart acquisition will underpin a more sustainable network, allow us to explore further real estate development prospects and more importantly provide further growth opportunities in the USA for all our colleagues."