HORIZONS | BDO'S GLOBAL VIEWOF MID-MARKET DEAL ACTIVITY 31
NORDICS DEAL NUMBERS ANDVALUE SOAR IN RECORD-BREAKING YEAR
Nordic M&A deal volume in Q4 2021 maintained the downward trend from the previous quarter with deal numbers dropping 44% from 95 down to 53, with PE buyouts accounting for just five deals (a fall of 81%). M&A in the final quarter of the year followed similar trends to deal activity during the early phase of the pandemic in 2020, with sharp declines in both deal value and volume. Coming off the record-breaking highs earlier this year, the region’s Nordic M&A activity value also fell in Q4 2021 to USD 5,1bn (down 24%). The decline in deal volume in the final quarter can partly be explained by the recent surge of the pandemic mutations that are spreading throughout the region. One of the impacts of the pandemic has been that PE firms tend to make fewer deals when there are record-breaking levels of COVID-19 infections, and in terms of PE deal-making there was a similar lack of deal- making at the start of the pandemic back in 2020. Although the last two quarters of the year saw declines compared to the first
two quarters, the Nordic M&A market still recorded its best year yet in terms of both volume and value, with a total of 400 deals (up 43%) with a deal value of USD 30,5bn (up 54%). KEY SECTORS AND DEALS Two key sectors – TMT and Industrials & Chemicals – dominated sector activity in 2021, accounting for 50% of total deal numbers (211). In Q4 2021, the big movers in deal volumes were TMT, which fell by 17 (down 24% compared to the previous quarter) and Consumer, which saw activity increase to seven deals (up 37%). A TMT deal was the quarter’s biggest deal and involved Swedish eye-tracking company Tobii announcing that Tobii Dynavox was becoming a spin-off from its core business. The deal was valued at USD 372m. The Swedish acquisition-driven company Vestum accounted for the second biggest deal, announcing the acquisition of Lakers group (Industrials & Chemicals) for a total deal value of USD 361m. Other sectors that lost deal momentum in the final quarter of the year were Industrials & Chemicals (down 15%), Business Services (down 14%) and Financial Services (down 19%).
BIG PICTURE
• 2021 was a record-breaking year both in terms of deal value (USD 30,5bn) and volume (400) • Investors switched target sectors fromTMT (down 24%) to Consumer (up 37%) • The pandemic continues to slow down the Nordic M&A market from previous record-breaking highs.
PE/TRADE VOLUME &VALUE
160
12,000
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10,000
120
8,000
100
80
6,000
60
4,000
40
2,000
20
0
0
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