SWEDEN Trends and Developments Contributed by: Manne Bergnéhr, Ingela Sundelin and Arvid Sundelin, Hellström Law Firm
structures for greenfield; build own transfer (BOT) for municipalities. Diligence hotspots These include: module provenance and traceability; warranty tails; fire safety; snow load engineering; and roof lease bankability. Energy Storage Market character Battery storage has moved from pilot to scaling asset class in Sweden. M&A is most active in late-stage development portfolios and operating assets. There are pilot projects underway to use water in old mines as energy storage by converting them into pumped-storage hydroelectric systems. Commercial themes Co-located wind/solar + battery energy storage sys- tems (BESS) enables grid-friendly profiles and local congestion relief. Contracts allocate grid capacity, curtailment, and shared services. Typical structures The typical structures are project financeable SPVs These include: ancillary market prequalification; cybersecurity; safety certification; and warranty back- to-backs through the EPC chain. Other Infrastructure: Roads and Rail Market character with revenue share. Diligence hotspots Transport infrastructure remains predominantly pub- lic sector led via the National Transport Plan. Private M&A focuses on contracting groups, maintenance providers and logistics hubs rather than road or rail concessions per se. That said, the rail investment pipeline (eg, Norrbotniabanan, Ostlänken and capac- ity expansions around metropolitan nodes) creates adjacent opportunities. In roads, decarbonisation drives acquisitions in EV charging networks, smart traffic and ITS, and asphalt recycling platforms. Commercial themes The following themes are encountered.
• Procurement and risk pass through – For M&A, dili- gence focuses on project orderbooks, indexation mechanisms for materials, and exposure to fixed- price legacy contracts and risks related to public procured contracts and invoicing procedures. • Signalling upgrades and digital control drive con- solidation among niche suppliers; cybersecurity credentials and safety certification are central value drivers. • Logistics real assets – Intermodal terminals and last mile hubs attract capital, often via corporate acquisitions of operators holding long ground leases with municipalities. Typical structures Structures include: share deals in asset light service providers; carve-outs from large contractors; and minority growth investments in charging networks. Diligence hotspots Recent public scandals and court cases have focused on contractors allegedly invoicing public entities in excess of contract, giving rise to public entities con- ducting investigations. Diligence hotspots include: public law risks (procurement, state aid); indexation and change in law protections; invoicing and contrac- tual obligations; labour and collective agreements; safety certifications; and environmental liabilities (con- taminated rail yards, asphalt plants). Trends for 2025–27 The following trends are anticipated. • Onshore wind will remain important, in particularly portfolio optimisation, and a resurge in investments is expected from 2026. • Actors in solar are expecting an uptick in invest- ments after a slowdown of activity in 2024 and 2025. • Offshore wind will remain in waiting mode until more political clarity on the viability of greenfield investments is achieved. Once the planned auc- tioning process is established, this will drive trans- actions such as swaps and consolidation. • Nuclear will move from policy to site-specific development, with early-stage corporate M&A among platform developers and suppliers.
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