Icelandic entrepreneur brothers Lýður and Ágúst Guðmundsson were set to acquire up to 25 percent of shares in food processing company Bakkavör, which they founded, provided they repaid their claimants by mid-2014.

Bakkavör, founded 1986, started out by processing lumpsucker roes, among other foods. Archive photo by Páll Stefánsson.

However, now it is clear that they will lose their entire stake in Bakkavör Group, the parent company of Bakkavör’s operating company, as it is set to change its claims to Bakkavör to new stock in the coming days—two years ahead of schedule, Fréttablaðið reports.

According to the annual listing of Iceland’s largest companies compiled by business magazine Frjáls verslun in autumn 2011, Bakkavör is the largest company registered in Iceland—most of its operations are in the UK.

The largest owners of Bakkavör Group are Arion Bank, the resolution committee of Glitnir Bank, the Pension Fund for State Employees, the pension fund Gildi and the Pension Fund of Commerce.

The total debt of Bakkavör Group amounted to ISK 64 billion (USD 507 million, EUR 383 million) when compositions were made around two years ago.

Bakkavör Group refinanced loans to its subsidiaries early last year by issuing GBP 350 million (ISK 71.5 billion, USD 567 million, EUR 429 million) in bond class and obtain a syndicated loan worth GBP 380 million (ISK 77.7 billion, USD 616 million, EUR 465 million).

The bond class’s mature date is February 2018 but the syndicated loan’s in mid-2014.

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