10 Exit boom for Finnish buyout
The exit activity in the buyout segment saw an increase in 2019, up 10 percent from 2018, primarily driven by a large increase in Finland.
In 2019, private equity funds completed 80 exits, up from 73 in 2018. The activity is rebounding after a slow 2018. The activity was higher in the first half of the year, with 47 exits carried out, compared to 33 in the second half.
All Nordic countries, except Sweden, saw an increase in the number of exits. Finland saw the biggest increase from 15 exits in 2018, up to 22 exits in 2019, making it the main driver behind the all-over increase.
Denmark and Norway also saw an increase in exit activity, whereas Sweden saw a 23 percent drop in exit activity to 24 exits. The Swedish market has experienced a sharp drop with its market share of buyout exits; it fell from 42 percent in 2018, down to 30 percent in 2019.
The distribution across sectors has changed notably from 2018 to 2019. The number of exits in industrials was 30, an increase of 4 from 2018. The number of exits in ICT experienced a sharp increase to 20, up from 12 in 2018. Within health care and life science, the number of exits fell from 7 in 2018 to 4 in 2019.
Compared to the average in the last 10 years, ICT exits are well above average, whereas 15 exits in the consumer sector are well below the average in the last ten-year period.
For 51 percent of exit deals, the acquirer was an industrial buyer or player, up from 43 percent in 2018, and 39 percent in 2017. The second most popular exit type was secondary exits with a 31 percent share.