Straumur had an established presence in ten countries including the UK, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and the Czech Republic.

The newly merged organisation had a stronger balance sheet and shareholder base and was well positioned to start expanding its activities beyond Iceland.

Straumur-Burdaras, now ALMC, was the largest investment bank in Iceland prior to the financial collapse in 2008 with assets worth roughly EUR 7bn and around 500 employees.

July 2006 – Straumur acquired 50.01% share of Stamford Partners, a specialist investment banking firm with operations in London and Amsterdam.

June 2007 – Straumur acquired 50% share in WOOD & Company, the leading independent investment house in Central and Eastern Europe.

[6] January 2010 – Sold 50% of West Ham United to David Gold and David Sullivan for what was thought to be around £50,000,000 May 2010 – Sold a further 10% of West Ham United to current owners Gold and Sullivan August 2010 – Sold a further 5% of West Ham United to a group of investors including former owner Terry Brown[7] On 9 March 2009, the Icelandic Financial Supervisory Authority took control of Straumur.