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Click on the picture to watch an audio slideshow of a hike to Hraunsvatn lake in Öxnadalur valley in north Iceland, which lies at a height of 490 meters, interlocked between two steep mountains and a small glacier with a view of the majestic Hraundrangar peaks.
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Fjallabyggd (“Mountain Settlement”) is a skier’s dream. Its slopes are perfect for slaloming and there are also tracks for telemark skiing. Winter sporting enthusiasts can also go ice skating or rent snowmobiles. In summer, Fjallabyggd turns into a paradise for hikers. Read this special promotion about one of Iceland’s best hidden gems.
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Icelandic company deCODE Genetics has signed an agreement with American company Saga Investments LLC on the latter company’s acquisition of deCODE and its entire operations, as announced in a statement from deCODE this morning.
The headquarters of deCODE in Reykjavík. Photo by Páll Kjartansson.
Saga Investments is an investment company owned by Polaris Venture Partners and Arch Venture Partners, which are well-known investors in the field of biotechnology in the US, visir.is reports.
The statement explains that the board of deCODE has been looking into various options in the past month to reorganize the company’s operations.
These include selling single operational entities and medicine that is currently in development, in addition to reaching agreements with the owners of outstanding changeable shares and selling new capital stock.
The agreement with Saga Investments was made in accordance with section 363 of the American insolvency law. It is dependent on various conditions, such as the approval of courts.
Also, a transparent public auction process must take place, organized by the insolvency court, where all interested parties can make bids on the assets and operations of deCODE in competition with the current binding offer from Saga Investments.
After the sales process is completed and a final acquisition agreement is made, it is assumed that the mother company deCODE Genetics Inc. will go through insolvency proceedings with approval of the court.
Considering the vastness of the mother company’s debts, it is highly unlikely that deCODE’s shareholders will be given the full value of its sold assets.
Saga Investments are planning to maintain deCODE’s operations in its current form.
DeCODE has also made a temporary funding agreement with Saga Investments so the company can continue operations during the period of moratorium on its payments. It is not expected that service to deCODE’s customers and partners will suffer in the process.
The statements points out that the moratorium on payments is only in the name of deCODE Genetics Inc. but not its daughter company, Íslensk erfdagreining.
Click here to read more about deCODE.
Iceland’s cabinet met at the presidential residence Bessastadir at noon today where new ministers were announced: Gudbjartur Hannesson of the Social Democrats will lead a new Welfare Ministry and Ögmundur Jónasson of the Left-Greens a new Ministry for Internal Affairs.
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The average temperature of the three summer months, June, July and August, in Reykjavík this year was 12.2°C (54°F), which makes this the warmest summer in the capital since temperatures were first recorded in 1871, according to meteorologist Trausti Jónsson.
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The comedy sketch show Spaugstofan, which has been shown more or less continuously for 21 years on the Icelandic national broadcaster RÚV, has now been relocated to the private television channel Stöd 2.
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The crew of the sailboat Santa Maria from Hamburg, Germany, called for assistance when they ran out of fuel 140 nautical miles west of Reykjavík last week. The guard post of the Icelandic Maritime Administration contacted ships that were nearby and as it turned out the whaling ship Hvalur 9 was located closest to Santa Maria.
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The second issue of the print edition of Iceland Review 2010 has just been published. Entitled “Under the Volcano” the magazine dedicates 20 pages, words and pictures, to the volcanic eruption in Eyjafjallajökull glacier which made headlines all over the word. New subscribers will receive the book 2010 Eruptions as a gift and all subscribers are part of a draw to win a trip to Iceland. Click here to subscribe to the magazine.
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REVIEWS
Dadi Gudbjörnsson's art with its smiley faces, Aladdin's lamps, gleaming hearts, blue mountains and psychedelic flora of unearthly origin reminds me of the cheesy R.E.M. song “Shiny Happy People”. The sugar-sweet naivety fails to amuse me but I must admit it infects my mood with delirious joy.
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Former President of Iceland Vigdís Finnbogadóttir turned 80 on 15 April this year and Mayor Hanna Birna Kristjánsdóttir—in making her an Honorary Citizen of Reykjavík to mark the occasion—observed that Finnbogadóttir’s life was interwoven with that of Reykjavík. In June 1980 Finnbogadóttir made history when she became the world’s first democratically elected female head of state.
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Today, August 30, and tomorrow is your last chance to visit the exhibition “Eau De Parfum” by Andrea Maack at the Spark Design Space in Reykjavík. In the exhibition space, Maack introduces three perfumes that are the result of her collaboration with French perfumery apf aromes & parfums.
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