Gulf investors ‘bid £1.5bn for Iceland’
DEESIDE-BASED retailer Iceland frozen foods is said to be the target of a £1.5bn bid by Middle Eastern investors.
Weekend newspaper reports suggest a consortium of Gulf investors, headed by the Global Banking Corporation of Bahrain, is in talks with representatives of the two collapsed Icelandic banks, Landsbanki and Glitnir, which own 76% of Iceland Foods.
The move could spark a rival bid from founder and chief executive Malcolm Walker, who owns 24% along with other managers.
It is understood he has the right to seize control if he can match any bid agreed by shareholders with a third party. In October Mr Walker’s £1bn offer for Iceland Foods was turned down.
He founded Iceland in 1970 and built it into a 750-store chain but lost control of the group in 2001. He was reinstated to the board in 2005 when a private consortium headed by Icelandic retail group Baugur acquired its then parent company The Big Food Group for £326m.
Baugur’s UK arm went into administration last year and the controlling stake passed to the administrators of Landsbanki and Glitnir.
