Iceland 'in talks over £1.5bn sale'

A consortium headed by the Global Banking Corporation of Bahrain is holding early-stage discussions on a takeover of Iceland, according to the Mail On Sunday.

It is thought the move could fuel interest from Iceland founder and chief executive Malcolm Walker, who already owns 24 per cent of the company, alongside other members of management. Iceland is majority-owned by collapsed Icelandic banks Landsbanki and Glitnir, together holding a 76 per cent stake, although their assets have been owned by the Icelandic government since the banks called in administrators.

Mr Walker is said to have made a 1bn bid to buy back Iceland earlier this year, which was rejected.

But he may be spurred on to table a new offer in light of the current reported talks.

Iceland announced a 19 per cent jump in profits for the year to March 26. Like-for-like sales at Iceland Foods stores open for more than a year rose 4.3 per cent in the year and helped total sales climb 10.4 per cent to 2.2bn.