Founders and chief executive buy back control of supermarket giant Iceland
The founding family and boss of Iceland Foods have teamed up to take back full control of the supermarket’s shares, following the chain’s revenue boom amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Chief executive Tarsem Dhaliwal and founder Malcolm Walker have today bought out South African investment firm Brait’s 63.1 per cent stake in Iceland for £115m, making the group now 100 per cent owned by Dhaliwal, Walker and their related parties.
“It is particularly satisfying to turn this new page in Iceland’s history just before the 50th anniversary of the opening of our first shop on 18 November 1970,” said Walker in a statement.
Walker founded Iceland in 1970, and listed the business on the London Stock Exchange in 1984. He secured a merger with wholesaler Booker in 2000, and the supermarket group was later purchased by a consortium led by Baugur in 2005.
After Baugur collapsed as a result of the financial crisis, Walker was among those who bought Iceland back from liquidators in a 2012 deal valuing it at £1.55bn.
Brait said late last year that it intended to sell stakes in several British firms, including Iceland, within the next five years in a bid to reduce debt.
Iceland is Britain’s ninth biggest supermarket in overall grocery market share, with more than 1,000 stores across the UK. In frozen food, it is second only to industry leader Tesco and it has reaped the benefits of stockpiling by consumers during the pandemic.
Industry data showed Iceland’s sales rose 28.6 per cent over the 12 weeks to 17 May, giving it a market share of 2.4 per cent.