Iceland founder takes full ownership of retailer in £115m deal

Iceland Foods founder Sir Malcolm Walker CBE and chief executive Tarsem Dhaliwal have taken full ownership of the frozen foods chain, having bought out the remaining £115 million stake. 

They bought out the company’s sole external investor, South African conglomerate Brait SE’s 63% shareholding, making Iceland Foods 100% owned by Walker, Dhaliwal and their related parties. 

The sale will be made in three installments, with an initial payment of £60 million being paid today. The remaining investments of £26.9 million and 28.1 million will be paid in July 2021 and 2022 respectively. 

“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,” Walker said. 

“Having started the business in partnership with a friend, I am delighted to have come full circle and own what are now more than 1,000 stores with another good friend in 2020.”

He continued: “Over the last half-century we have had a series of external investors in our business but I have no hesitation in saying that Brait has been the best”.

They have been consistently understanding and supportive and were friends as well as business partners. I am sure that friendship will endure, and Tarsem and I wish them every success in the future.”

Tarsem Dhaliwal said: “We are grateful to Brait for giving us this opportunity to take full ownership of Iceland. We have always been a genuine family business and it is not just Sir Malcolm and I but many of our colleagues who have children working for the company”.

We are totally committed to running and growing this business for the long term benefit of all our stakeholders and their families.”

Sir Malcolm and I will always have the wellbeing of our 25,000 Iceland colleagues and five million customers close to our hearts and we very much look forward to Doing It Right for another 50 years as we begin this next exciting chapter in the Iceland story.”

In other Iceland news, the supermarket has made a move to help Chester Zoo, which has faced huge debt due to Covid-19. In a bid to help, the frozen foods chain has generously adopted the Zoo’s rookery of Humboldt penguins, lessening their financial burden.