 | This article needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(February 2019) |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Financial services |
| Founded | 2001 |
| Headquarters | Reykjavík,Iceland |
| Products | Insurance,asset financing,investments |
| Revenue | €961.5 million(2007)[1] |
 €573.9 million(2007)[1] | |
| Total assets | €8.011billion(2007)[1] |
Number of employees | 430(2007)[1] |
| Website | klakki.is |
Klakki (known asExista until 2011)[2] is anIcelandicfinancial services group formerly listed on theIceland Stock Exchange. Its activities are based primarily on insuranceunderwriting and other financial services, although it is also active ininvestments. The group's primary market is theNordic countries.
According to a report, Luxembourg-registeredCompagnie Financiere Scandinave was renamed theScandinavian Holding a month after incorporation. Later it was renamedMeidur S.A..[3] Meidur changed its name to Exista.[4]
Exista was founded in 2001 by aconsortium of Icelandicsavings banks as a vehicle to hold shares inKaupthing Bank.[5] A controlling shareholding in Exista was sold to aholding company ofBakkavör foundersÁgúst and Lýdur Gudmundsson in 2002.[5] In September 2006 the firm was floated on theIceland Stock Exchange in a €2.6 billioninitial public offering, the biggest in the country's history. The Gudmundsson brothers continue however to hold a near-45% stake in the business.[6] The company wasdelisted from the exchange in December 2008 following ashare buyback.
By 9 October 2008, Kaupthing Bank HF was forced into government receivership.[7] On 29 July 2009WikiLeaks exposed a confidential 210-page document listing Kaupthing's exposure to loans ranging from €45 million–1.25 billion. The leaked presentation revealed the bank had loaned billions of euros to its major shareholders, including a total of €1.43 billion to Exista and subsidiaries which own 23% of the bank.[8]
| This section needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(February 2019) |
Exista owns the Icelandic non-lifeinsurance company Vátryggingarfélag Íslands (VÍS), which holds around one-third of the domestic market.[9] Exista acquired control of VÍS from Kaupthing Bank in 2006.[10] The firm also owns VÍS's sister company, the life cover provider Lífís. Exista's third consolidatedsubsidiary is Lýsing, which is a provider ofasset financing.
Prior to the2008–2011 Icelandic financial crisis, Exista held a number of significant stakes in publicly traded companies. It opted todivest many of these, including 20% ofSampo Group,[11] 8.7% ofStorebrand[12] and 39.6% ofBakkavör,[13] in October 2008 in order to boost itscapital position. It was also the largest single shareholder (with almost 25%) ofKaupthing Bank before its de factonationalisation by theIcelandic government.[14]
Currently Exista holds a 29% share ofJJB Sports in conjunction with itschief executiveChris Ronnie,[citation needed] and is the sole owner of Skipti, the parent company of Icelandic telecommunications providerSíminn.[15]
