Nordic Dealmaking Triples to $141 Billion on Tech, Retail Bets
Nordic Dealmaking Triples to $141 Billion on Tech, Retail Bets
(Bloomberg) -- Even in this unprecedented year for mergers and acquisitions, few parts of Europe are seeing deal values surge as much as the Nordics.
The value of transactions targeting the region is up 184% this year to a record $141 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, as buyers flush with cash swoop on everything from food delivery startups to drugmakers. By comparison, mergers and acquisitions targeting Europe as a whole have risen 76% amid the M&A boom, the data show.
Two big deals in the last 24 hours have boosted the Nordic tally.
First, U.S. meal delivery service DoorDash Inc. said it was buying Finnish startup Wolt Enterprises Oy for about $8 billion. This was followed quickly by Swedish grocer ICA Gruppen AB’s biggest shareholder, along with pension fund AMF, making an offer to take the company private at a valuation of about 107.4 billion kronor ($12.5 billion).
While big companies have typically accounted for the bulk of dealmaking in the region, there’s also now a lot of growth in other areas that’s driving transactions, according to Michael Menzel, head of M&A and corporate finance for the Nordics at JPMorgan Chase & Co.
“There is a new and strong driver in the Nordic market because the economy is changing from what has driven it historically,” he said in an interview. “This is especially true in the tech, biotech, IT, renewables and pharma sectors.”
Elsewhere on Wednesday, private equity firm EQT AB agreed to buy health care-focused venture capital investor LSP for as much as 475 million euros ($551 million), and Noble Corp. of the U.S. reached a deal to acquire Denmark’s Maersk Drilling in a $1.9 billion stock transaction.
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