Iceland boss Richard Walker has said private equity ownership in the UK has caused more damage to retail than any other entity.
Walker added that the supermarket has no plans to float again, because of how public companies perform after it has been bought by private buyout groups.
He told The Times that private equity and business rates have done “more for the death of the high street than anything else”.
He added that private equity firms “hollow out all the costs and then they pass it on to the next private equity company at some pumped-up valuation”.
“Being private is such a fortunate and powerful position to be in and it enables us to operate the business in a way that will continue our kind of success and longevity,” he said.
The frozen food specialist floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1984, but investors saw it as a low-margin business in a competitive grocery market.
In 2005, Iceland was taken private when Icelandic investment group Baugur bought the company, but during the financial crisis three years later, the Icelandic banking system collapsed and the retailer fell into the hands of the banks’ liquidators.
It is now under full private ownership, as the Walker family and Iceland Foods chief executive Tarsem Dhaliwal purchased private equity firm Brait’s stake to regain full control.
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