British supermarket group Asda has said its chief executive, Roger Burnley, has stepped down - having said in March he would not be departing until next year.
In February, Mohsin and Zuber Issa and private equity group TDR Capital completed their purchase of a majority holding in Asda from US giant Walmart, in a deal giving it an enterprise value of 6.8 billion pounds.
A month later they said Mr Burnley would leave the group next year after it has transitioned fully to new ownership and once his long-term successor was in place.
However, Mr Burnley has now left the business.
"We have mutually agreed with Roger that now is the right time for him to step down from the business following a transition period under our ownership," the brothers and TDR said in a statement.
Asda said a process to recruit Mr Burnley's replacement was "ongoing".
Burnley re-joined Asda in 2016 and had been CEO since 2018.
Asda is Britain's third largest supermarket group after market leader Tesco and Sainsbury's.
