Number Crunch H1 2022

Argentum

Amount invested in Nordic venture in the first half of the year.

*Only partial amounts and not total amounts.

Number of PE-backed exits in the venture segment by sector, H1 2022

Number of PE-backed venture exits by country, 2017H1-2022H1

Number of PE-backed buyout exits by country, 2016H1-2022H1

PE-backed buyout exits by sector, H1 2022

 All fund managers are not mentioned for reasons of space.

Number of venture investments in finance in the first half of the year, 5 percentage points up on the average for the same period in the last five years

Chalmers innovation, Karolinska & Almi Invest

Number of Venture investments, by country, H1 2022

Amount invested in Nordic venture, by country, H1 2022

Investments by seed, venture and growth funds in Nordic companies in the first half of the year.

87 investments were made in the Nordic buyout deals in the first half of the year. Activity in Nordic buyout is still high, but fell compared to the record activity seen in 2021. We estimate that the amount invested in Nordic buyout deals is a total of EUR 5.8 billion. The amount invested is declining, but is still high compared to historical levels.

Investments in Nordic companies by buyout funds in the first half of the year.

Denmark

Finland

Norway

Sweden

Amount invested (€m)

Nordic buyout segment, number of deals and invested amount, 2015 H1-2022 H1

Activity in the Norwegian buyout segment remains high but fell somewhat compared to the record year 2021. The number of investments in the buyout segment fell in the first half of 2022 compared to 2021. There were 87 investments in the first half of the year, an increase of 14 per cent compared to the average for the corresponding period in the last five years, but a decline of 22 per cent from the record level in H1 2021.  

EUR 5.8 billion were invested in the Norwegian buyout segment in the first half of 2022. This amount is 8 per cent lower than the average for the corresponding period in the last five years. Compared to the first half of 2021, the amount is down a stunning 46 per cent, but the level was extraordinarily high in 2021. 

Amount invested in Nordic buyout deals 
in the first half of the year.

The investments are spread across many sectors, but the majority of investments were in the industrial sector

 Production and distribution of capital goods, such as construction, engineering and building products, electrical equipment and industrial machinery, aerospace and defence.

, which attracted 31 per cent of investments. Despite high prices for inputs such as electricity and other raw materials, the industrial sector attracts a lot of investment. The number of investments is up 11 per cent compared to the average for the first half of each of the last five years. After a decline in 2020, investments within the industrial sector have thus again established themselves as the sector that attracts the most investments in the buyout segment. 

25 per cent of investments were aimed at technology companies

 Information and communication technology (ICT). This involves sub-sectors such as hardware, software, telecommunications and communication services.

, an increase of 17 per cent compared to the corresponding period in the last five years. Technology companies constitute an increasingly important sector for buyout investments. Companies within the consumer sector

 The consumer sector consists of companies that supply goods and services to consumers.

 attracted 19 per cent of investments in Nordic buyout.

 Healthcare and life sciences includes the pharmaceutical industry, healthcare, diagnostics, medical devices and other products and services intended to treat patients.

 attracted 13 per cent of investments. Compared to the average for each of the last five years, the number of investments increased by 49 per cent. This was in line with the first half of last year, and shows that mature companies in the healthcare sector are perceived as attractive by fund managers.

of buyout investments in companies within industry and technology

2022H1

Consumer

Health Care & Life Science

Industrials

Financials

Other sectors

Industrial goods and services attracted the most investment in the first half of the year, followed by technology companies. Collectively, companies in these two sectors attracted 56 per cent of investments in the Nordic buyout segment. Other sectors that attracted a lot of investment were the consumer sector and health services and life sciences.

Number of buyout investment by sector, 2017 H1-2022 H1

Description of the sector distribution in the first half of the year.

The country distribution of investments in the buyout segment shows that the activity was distributed more evenly than previously across the Nordic countries. Swedish companies attracted the most investments, as they have traditionally done, but the proportion was far lower than in the past. Most investments were in Swedish companies, amounting to 29 per cent. The remaining investments were evenly distributed between Denmark, Finland and Norway, with 23-25 per cent of investments each. Compared to the average for the past five years, Norway and Finland are experiencing growth in the volume of investments, while Denmark and Sweden are experiencing moderate declines:

Swedish companies attracted the most buyout investments in the first half of the year, with a share of almost a third (29%), and a drop of 10 per cent compared to the average for the last five years.

Norwegian companies attracted the second most investments with 25 per cent, but the number of investments was an impressive 43 per cent higher than the average for the same period in each of the past five years.

Finnish companies accounted for a share of 23 per cent. Finland is experiencing high activity in the buyout segment and had the strongest growth, 59 per cent, compared to the average over the past five years.

Danish companies follow closely behind with 21 per cent of the investments. Denmark has experienced a moderate decline in the number of investments. 3 per cent fewer buyout investments involved Danish companies, compared to the five-year average for the first half of the year. 

Buyout investments by country, 2015 H1-2022 H1

Over time, Norwegian companies have attracted a larger share of Nordic buyout investments. 

Number of buyout investments, by country, H1 2022

Evenly divided: Sweden still attracts the most buyout investments, but the share is lower than previously. Investment activity is evenly distributed across the four Nordic countries. 

Amount invested in Nordic buyout, by country, H1 2022

 Swedish companies attracted 53 per cent of investments in the Nordic buyout segment. Danish companies attracted a lower share of the amount invested (11 per cent), compared to the share of the number of investments (23 per cent). 

Investments that stand out in terms of size include:

In June, Swedish EQT made an investment in 

, which produces refrigerated containers for the transport of pharmaceutical preparations. The transaction valued the Swedish company at EUR 2.8 billion (

Nordic venture segment, number of deals and invested amount, 2015H1-2022H1

In March, HgCapital acquired a minority stake in the software company IFS, valuing the Swedish company at EUR 9 billion (

High level of activity: Despite much turmoil in the world, the high level of investment in the venture segment has persisted in the first half of 2022, in terms of both the number of investments and the amount invested. 

Visma's consulting business Visma Custom Solutions was acquired by CVC Capital Partners in June. 

 valued the company at around EUR 800 million. 

Accel-KKR completed an acquisition of Basware Corporation, which supplies cloud-based procurement solutions. The company was valued at EUR 620 million (

 Despite much turmoil in the world, the high level of investment in the venture segment has persisted in the first half of 2022, in terms of both the number of investments and the amount invested. 

These four investments accounted for approximately 45 per cent of invested capital in the buyout segment during the period. As in previous years, we can thus see that a small number of investments are the main drivers of the amount invested. 

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Raised capital from PE funds in the Nordics in the first half of 2022

Analysis of the Nordic PE market in the first half of the year

Number Crunch H1 2022Analysis of the Nordic PE market in the first half of the year