Stodir ( is, Stoðir, FL Group prior to 4 June 2008) is a majority family-owned

investment company An investment company is a financial institution principally engaged in holding, managing and investing securities. These companies in the United States are regulated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and must be registered under the ...

located in Reykjavík, Iceland. The company was founded on July 20, 1973, under the name Flugleiðir. It was formed as a holding company for Loftleiðir and

Air Iceland The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing for ...

. FL Group was best known for its subsidiary Icelandair Group, which was sold in October 2006.

Icelandair Icelandair is the flag carrier airline of Iceland, with its corporate head office on the property of Reykjavík Airport in the capital city Reykjavik. Linked from here It is part of the Icelandair Group and operates to destinations on both si ...

Loftleidir Icelandic Loftleiðir HF, internationally known as Icelandic Airlines (abbreviated IAL) or Loftleiðir Icelandic, was a private Icelandic airline headquartered on the grounds of Reykjavík Airport in Reykjavík, which operated mostly trans-atlantic fligh ...

and other companies of Icelandair Group have been leaders in the Icelandic flight and tourism industry for about 70 years. The company was placed into

administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative assistant, Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an admini ...

in September 2008 after

Glitnir Forseti (Old Norse "the presiding one", "President (government title), president" in modern Icelandic language, Icelandic and Faroese language, Faroese) is the Æsir, god of justice and reconciliation in Norse mythology. He is generally identifie ...

, its largest investment, was part-

nationalised Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...

by the Icelandic government. The company, then named Stodir, was restructured in 2009 and all shares delivered to its creditors. Between 2009 and 2016, all assets were sold and all debt repaid. In 2017, new shareholders acquired the company and Stodir was repositioned as an active investment company.

History

Before 2005 change

The company that is nowadays called ''Stodir'' was founded in 1973. In the beginning it was a holding company for "Loftleiðir" and Air Iceland under the name Flugleidir, a hybrid of the two old names. In 1978 Flugleidir took over all assets of both companies. Until then "Loftleidir" had used "Loftleidir Icelandic", "Icelandic Airlines" or just "Icelandic" for international marketing and Air Iceland used "Icelandair". That same year the name "Icelandair" was to be used solely for international marketing. ''Flugleiðir'' was still the official name of the company until 2005. In December 2002 Baugur Group acquired 20% of the company. Baugur Group was reportedly controlled by a number of companies in a single mailbox in

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2005 change

In 2005, the company known as ''Flugleiðir'' was changed to an investment company called ''FL GROUP''. The airline had been spun off into a subsidiary named Icelandair in 2002. On October 23, 2005 ''FL GROUP'' announced its acquisition of the

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

low-cost airline

Sterling Airways Sterling Airlines A/S was a low-cost airline with its head office at Copenhagen Airport South in Dragør, Dragør Municipality, Denmark. It was created in September 2005 through the merger of two Danish airlines — Sterling European Airli ...

. In addition, ''FL GROUP'' holds a 16.18% stake in British " no-frills" carrier

easyJet EasyJet plc (styled as easyJet) is a British multinational low-cost airline group headquartered at London Luton Airport. It operates domestic and international scheduled services on 927 routes in more than 34 countries via its affiliate airli ...

. On January 6, 2006,

Hannes Smárason Hannes is a masculine given name and a diminutive of Johannes or Hannibal. Hannes may refer to: *Hannes Alfvén (1908–1995) Swedish chemist and Nobel-prize winner *Hannes Aigner (born 1989), German slalom canoeist and Olympic medalist *Hannes A ...

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

, stated that a

merger Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of companies, other business organizations, or their operating units are transferred to or consolidated with another company or business organization. As an aspect ...

and Sterling was a possibility.

2006-2007

In early 2006 ''Ferðaskrifstofa Íslands'' was sold to Sumarferðir and ''Icelandair Car Rental'' (Hertz) was sold to

Magnús Kristinsson Magnus, meaning "Great" in Latin, was used as cognomen of Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus in the first century BC. The best-known use of the name during the Roman Empire is for the fourth-century Western Roman Emperor Magnus Maximus. The name gained wi ...

, the owner of

Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

. In February 2006 FL GROUP announced plans to list its subsidiary Icelandair Group in

Iceland Stock Exchange The Nasdaq Iceland, formerly known as the Iceland Stock Exchange (XICE) ( is, Kauphöll Íslands), is a stock exchange located in Iceland. It was established in 1985 as a joint venture of several banks and brokerage firms on the initiative of the ...

. FL sold its 16.9% stake in airline

in April 2006 for €325m, returning a profit of €140m on its investment. FL had first invested in easyJet in October 2004, taking an 8.4% share, increasing this over the course of 2005. In October 2006 FL GROUP secured the sale of Icelandair Group. In 2007, the FL Group invested $50 million in several Bayrock projects linked to

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

, including a development in Whitestone, Queens, and

Trump SoHo The Dominick, formerly the Trump SoHo, is a $450 million, 46-story, 391-unit hotel condominium located at 246 Spring Street at the corner of Varick Street in the Hudson Square neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It was announced in 2006, c ...

in Manhattan.

2008 revamp

In February 2008, after the US real-estate bubble had burst, FL Group announced it was divesting itself of its real-estate projects in the US. The Trump Tower project, along with other US based real estate projects, were moved to a subsidiary of FL Group called FL Bayrock Holdco. In March, stakes in Finnair and investment group Aktiv Kapital were

divested In finance and economics, divestment or divestiture is the reduction of some kind of asset for financial, ethical, or political objectives or sale of an existing business by a firm. A divestment is the opposite of an investment. Divestiture is a ...

; in April a 39% stake in FL was acquired by Styrkur Invest, a company controlled by FL's Chairman

Jón Ásgeir Jóhannesson Jón Ásgeir Jóhannesson (born 27 January 1968, in Reykjavík) is an Icelandic convicted criminal and former CEO of Baugur Group. Early career Jón Ásgeir's parents were Jóhannes Jónsson (1940-2013) and Ása Karen Ásgeirsdóttir (1942-), w ...

. The company then

delisted In corporate finance, a listing refers to the company's shares being on the list (or board) of stock that are officially traded on a stock exchange. Some stock exchanges allow shares of a foreign company to be listed and may allow dual listing, sub ...

from the

on 6 June after a

share buyback Share repurchase, also known as share buyback or stock buyback, is the re-acquisition by a company of its own shares. It represents an alternate and more flexible way (relative to dividends) of returning money to shareholders. When used in coor ...

. Jón Ásgeir stepped down as Chairman later that month after a conviction for breaking accounting laws. His wife Ingibjorg Stefania Palmadottir was elected as his replacement. On July 4, FL Group announced both that it had changed its name to Stodir and acquired a 39% stake in retail

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...

Baugur Group.

Insolvency 2008

In September 2008 it was announced that Stodir had filed an application for a

debt moratorium A debt moratorium is a delay in the payment of debts or obligations. The term is generally used to refer to acts by national governments. Moratory laws are usually passed at times of special political or commercial stress: for instance, on severa ...

process at the District Court of Reykjavík, effectively putting the company into

. The move was prompted by the

Government of Iceland The politics of Iceland take place in the framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the president is the head of state, while the prime minister of Iceland serves as the head of government in a multi-party system ...

's acquisition of three-quarters of troubled bank

, in which Stodir had previously held a 32% stake. For 2008, FL Bayrock Holdco posted more than US$140 million in losses. It was declared bankrupt in January 2014, costing its sole investor and creditor, the parent FL Group, nearly US$130 million in losses.

2009-2016

Composition agreement reached with creditors (June 2009), which thereby acquired all shares in the renamed company Stodir. Between 2009 and 2016, all assets were sold except for a shareholding in Refresco Holding, a pan European beverage company, all debt was paid off, and all legal issues resolved.

2017

S121 ehf. (a group of Icelandic and UK family investors) acquired the majority of shares in Stodir.

2018

Refresco shareholding was sold for EUR 140 million and Stodir was repositioned as an active investment company.

2018-current

A number of investments made, including listed shares in Arion bank, Siminn, Kvika bank and Blue Lagoon.

Current investments

*Arion Bank, an Icelandic bank (5% holding) *Síminn, an Icelandic telecommunications firm (16% holding) *Kvika bank, an Icelandic bank (6% holding)

Management

Board of directors

* Sigurjon Palsson, Executive Chairman * Ari Fenger * Magnus Armann

Key employees

* Jon Sigurdsson, CEO * Julius Thorfinnsson, COO

References

External links

Stodir's Web Site

Iceland Review
{{Authority control Investment management companies of Iceland Financial services companies established in 1973 1973 establishments in Iceland