ISSUE 4 | 2021
32
NORDICS HEAT CHART BY SECTOR
TMT
70 30% 61 26% 29 12%
Industrials & Chemicals
Business Services Financial Services
21
9%
LOOKINGAHEAD
for 50.0% of the quarter’s recorded transaction volume. Some of the sectors that lost momentum were Business Services (down 66.7% and 50.0% compared to Q2 2021 and Q3 2020) and Energy, Mining & Utilities (down 72.7% and 62.5% compared to Q2 2021 and Q3 2020). However, the quarter’s biggest deal did take place in Energy, Mining & Utilities, which saw the acquisition of Danish Ultragas ApS by Navigator Holdings Limited for USD 357m. Combined, the business will operate one of the largest gas tanker fleets in the small and handysize segments. One of the sectors which gained momentum in the Nordics was Financial Services, which accounted for four of the quarter’s top 10 deals. Of these, the largest was the acquisition of Lunar Way A/S by a consortium of investors for a deal value of USD 249m. The Fintech company has attracted more than 300,000 customers across northern Europe with its purely digital banking platform. Real Estate is also seeing increased investor interest with four deals more than the same quarter last year. The sector’s biggest deal was Geveran Trading Co.’s acquisition of the remaining 19.5% of shares held by minority shareholders in Norwegian Property ASA for USD 264m. The company owns and operates large areas of commercial properties in the Norwegian capital.
Pharma, Medical & Biotech
19 8% 19 8% 13 6%
Consumer
2021 is already shaping up to be the best ever year for M&A activity in the Nordics. Even with a quarter to go, there have been more completed transactions by Q3 2021 (320) than any previous full year. As a result of having one of the highest vaccination rates in the world (with over 60.0%of the population fully vaccinated across the region), we are experiencing the long-awaited reopening of Scandinavian societies. Therefore, it wouldn’t be surprising to see increased M&A activity in the last quarter of the year. If the reopening of economies proceeds as planned, we could see increased levels of interest in the Leisure and Consumer sectors. Although our outlook on future transaction activity remains positive, we have seen a slowdown in the number of IPOs, combined with more volatile movements in the Scandinavian stock markets. Moreover, we are seeing signs of PE investors reducing their investment activity. It remains possible that the recent M&A wave of activity might have passed its peak and moving forwards we could see a return to a more normal transaction environment.
Energy, Mining & Utilities
Real Estate
2 2
1% 1%
Leisure TOTAL
236
NORDICS MID-MARKET VOLUMES BY SECTOR
2020
2021
86
84
12
2 12 8
22
11
62
74
21
PER OVE GISKE PARTNER, CORPORATE FINANCE
23
24
23
per.ove.giske@bdo.no
13
23
53
46
Technology & Media
Financial Services
Energy, Mining & Utilities
Pharma, Medical & Biotech Real Estate
Consumer
Business Services
Leisure
Industrials & Chemicals
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