Domino’s sells Icelandic business for £14m to focus on UK and Ireland
Domino’s has agreed the sale of its Iceland business in a deal worth £14m as the pizza chain continues to exit its directly-operated overseas operations to focus on its core UK and Ireland business.
The fast food firm today announced it has sold the Icelandic division to a consortium of investors including Eyja Fjarfestingafelag, Kristinn ehf, Sjavarsyn ehf and Lysi hf.
Proceeds from the disposal, which is expected to complete before the end of May, will be used to reduce group debt.
Earlier this month Domino’s announced it had exited the Swedish market, which followed the sale of its Norwegian subsidiary last year.
Domino’s Iceland is the master franchisee of Domino’s Pizza in Iceland, with 23 stores across the country.
The division posted underlying operating profit for the year ended 27 December 2020 of ISK 101.2m (£600,000) and the value of its gross assets was ISK 3.822bn (£22.1m).
Domino’s revealed this month that it is planning to open 200 new stores in the UK and Ireland in a bid to increase sales to £1.9bn.
The firm, which reported that sales increased 11.4 per cent to £1.35bn last year, launched a new strategic plan to beat competitors that have invested in online delivery capability during the pandemic.
It said that in order to deliver its medium-term ambition of total sales of £1.6bn to £1.9bn, it will open an additional 200 stores and “turbo-charge” its collection business to double market share.
“As we come out of the restrictions of Covid-19 we will be competing in an environment that has most likely changed forever with an increased presence of aggregator operators and more digitally aware consumers that are familiar with the benefits of home food delivery,” Domino’s said in a statement made at the time of the announcement.
“We have already invested in our core capabilities and built upon our core strengths to capture the opportunities ahead.
“We know how to improve our marketing effectiveness, utilise data and insights to inform our decision making, leverage the strength of our supply chain to drive efficiencies and accelerate our already strong digital and technology credentials”.