The board of Iceland Mat, the Norwegian arm of frozen-food retailer Iceland, has decided to call for tenders after the company was declared bankrupt on 11 October, according to media reports.
Iceland Mat’s total debt amounted to approximately NOK 32.4 million (€2.8 million), including NOK 20.6 million (€1.8 million) in loans from shareholders and close relatives, Norwegian publication Dagens Næringsliv reported.
The company’s assets, including outstanding receivables, are valued at approximately NOK 340,000 (€28,867.70).
The report also noted that business at Iceland Mat has been suspended, with 12 employees being dismissed legally.
Iceland
The frozen-food retailer entered Norway in 2016 and opened its first store two years later.
In 2021, Iceland Mat announced plans to open its sixth store in the country at the Sørlandsparken retail park, in Kristiansand.
The retailer had hoped to have seven to ten stores in operation in Norway prior to the pandemic, but chief executive Geir Olav Opheim told Nettavisen in July 2021 that it had been difficult to find locations, citing competition from larger operators.
Last year, it closed two of its three remaining stores in Norway, and in July, its last store – in St Hanshaugen, in Oslo – closed, according to Dagens Næringsliv.
Convenience Stores
Last year, it was reported that Iceland was shutting down its convenience store banner, Swift, in the UK.
The decision involved the permanent closure of four Swift stores and the conversion of one into a standard Iceland store, The Grocer reported.
At the time, the executive chair of Iceland, Richard Walker, told the publication that running a separate brand of convenience store ”didn’t work.”
“The Iceland logo and brand is really well thought of and recognised in London, and we must never underestimate that,” Walker added.
