Buyout houses circle Iceland
Two buyout houses have placed bids for frozen food retailer Iceland Foods, people familiar with the matter said yesterday, in an auction that the vendors hope will value the business at around £1.5bn. The bids from BC Partners and Bain Capital are “aggressive” the people said, although they did not indicate whether supermarket chain Wm Morrison was still in the process. Iceland chief executive Malcolm Walker has 42 days to match the highest bid under the shareholder agreement.