Iceland chief is determined to go it alone

By Scott Reid
Published on 30/01/2012 00:00

Iceland retail boss Malcolm Walker was yesterday facing a battle with two private equity firms over the chain he founded more than 40 years ago.

With Asda and Morrisons now unlikely to bid, Walker remains in the £1 billion auction alongside Bain Capital and BC Partners, reports claimed.

Walker, who with other members of the senior management team owns a 23 per cent stake in the company, told one Sunday newspaper that he had rejected multiple approaches to work with private equity on a bid.

He said: “I’ve worked independently my entire career and the idea of working for other people is just too difficult.

“I thought long and hard and I’m now 100 per cent sure it’s the right thing for us to do this alone.

“If I can buy the business with my management team, I will do that at the right price. If not, we’ll sell our shares and move on.”

Walker’s bid team has lined up £150 million of backing from a Canadian pension fund to buy the business, which has nearly 800 stores and was put up for sale last year with a price tag of up to £1.5bn.

However, the Financial Times reported that interest at Morrisons has waned. Asda is focused on developing its smaller supermarket business after the £778m acquisition of Netto UK.