Iceland Seafood International (ISI) has agreed to sell its UK division to Espersen, a Danish seafood producer.
The Danish company specializes in value-added food products from factories across Europe and Asia, with a significant presence in the UK retail market.
Upon completion of the transaction, Espersen will acquire 100% ownership of Iceland Seafood UK.
ISI CEO, Bjarni Ármannsson, stated that after facing “four challenging years” in the UK, the company has decided to divest the IS UK business at a significant loss.
Under the agreement, the 100% share is valued at £1,000 ($1,266), resulting in a loss of £0.3m for ISI.
Ármannsson emphasized that this decision is in the best interest of Iceland Seafood as a business, acknowledging the difficulty of the market and the unsuccessful efforts to turn the UK operations around.
Ármannsson expressed confidence that Espersen AS will serve the interests of ISI’s employees and customers, utilizing the company’s assets more effectively due to their strong position in the UK value-added seafood market.
In February, after two failed attempts to sell, ISI had initially announced its intention to retain its UK business, following plans to exit the market.
Previously in November, ISI had stated that the UK subsidiary was no longer aligned with their strategic goals and had been negatively impacting their overall profitability. In December and January, attempts to sell a majority stake in Iceland Seafood UK fell through.
ISI’s H1 results were released recently, highlighting the negative impact of high salmon prices in Q2 on its operations in Ireland and Ahumados Dominguez in Spain.
While ISI recorded a 7% increase in group sales in H1 compared to the previous year, sales declined by 7.6% in Q2.
