Restructuring of Ownership

The method of separating out as independent companies those parts that had developed within Héðinn outside the core business greatly simplified the possibilities for changes in the company’s ownership. Some of the companies that the firm’s development and innovation activities have given rise to over the years have been sold, in whole or in part, to other companies that recognized synergies with their own operations.

This successful strategy made changes in the ownership of the parent company itself easier and sparked the process by which various key employees, as well as individuals outside the descendants of the company’s founder, Markús Ívarsson, began acquiring small shares in Héðinn.

In 2004, the then-owners decided to enable three key employees of Héðinn—Rögnvaldur Einarsson, then head of Héðinn’s technical department; Ingimar Bjarnason, operations manager of the workshop; and Gunnar Pálsson, development manager—to purchase a 45 percent stake in the company.

The entry of these men into the group of owners left a deep mark on Héðinn’s operations and played a major role in the significant success achieved in the following years.