| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Investment |
| Founded | 1973 |
| Headquarters | Reykjavík, Iceland |
| Key people | Ingibjorg Stefania Palmadottir (Chairman of the board), Jón Sigurðsson (CEO) |
| Profit | (ISK 67.3 billion) (2007)[1] |
| Total assets | ISK 422.3 billion (2007)[1] |
| Employees | 78 (2007)[1] |
| Website | www.stodir.is |
Stodir (Icelandic: Stoðir, FL Group prior to 4 June 2008) is an international investment company, headquartered in Reykjavík, Iceland with offices in London.
The company was founded on July 20, 1973, under the name Flugleiðir. It was formed as a holding company for Loftleiðir and Flugfélag Íslands.
Stodir was best known for its subsidiary Icelandair Group, which was sold in October 2006. Icelandair, Loftleidir Icelandic 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 in September 2008 after Glitnir, its largest investment, was part-nationalised by the Icelandic government.
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In December 2002 Baugur Group acquired 20% of the company.[2] Baugur Group again was reportedly controlled by a number of companies in a single mailbox in British Virgin Islands.
The company that is nowadays called Stodir was founded in 1973. In the beginning it was a holding company for "Loftleiðir" and Flugfélag Íslands 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 Flugfélag Íslands 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 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 low-cost airline Sterling Airways. In addition, FL GROUP holds a 16.18% stake in British "no-frills" carrier easyJet. On January 6, 2006, Hannes Smárason, CEO, stated that a merger of easyJet and Sterling was a possibility.
In early 2006 Ferðaskrifstofa Íslands was sold to Sumarferðir and Icelandair Car Rental (Hertz) was sold to Magnús Kristinsson, the owner of Toyota in Iceland.
In February 2006 FL GROUP announced plans to list its subsidiary Icelandair Group in Iceland Stock Exchange.
FL sold its 16,9% stake in British no-frills airline easyJet 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.
2008 brought a number of changes to the company: stakes in Finnair[4] and investment group Aktiv Kapital[5] were both divested in March, and the following month a 39% stake in FL was acquired by Styrkur Invest, a company controlled by FL's Chairman Jón Ásgeir Jóhannesson.[6] The company then delisted from the Iceland Stock Exchange on 6 June after a share buyback.[7] Jón Ásgeir stepped down as Chairman later that month after a conviction for breaking accounting laws.[8] His wife[9] Ingibjorg Stefania Palmadottir was elected as his replacement.[10] On July 4, FL Group announced both that it had changed its name to Stodir and acquired a 39% stake in retail holding company Baugur Group.[8]
In September 2008 it was announced that Stodir had filed an application for a debt moratorium process at the District Court of Reykjavík, effectively putting the company into administration.[11] The move was prompted by the Government of Iceland's acquisition of three-quarters of troubled bank Glitnir, in which Stodir had previously held a 32% stake.[11]
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