DENMARK Law and Practice Contributed by: Dan Moalem, Jacob Bier, Thomas Enevoldsen and Poul Guo, Moalem Weitemeyer
Moalem Weitemeyer Amaliegade 3, 1258 Copenhagen, Denmark Tel: +45 7070 1505 Email: Reception@moalemweitemeyer.com Web: www.moalemweitemeyer.com
1. Trends 1.1 M&A Market
Outlook for 2026 The confidence seen in late 2025 reflected in quarterly volume growth and a healthy pipeline looks to be car - rying into 2026. Broader economic and geopolitical uncertainties (eg, uneven global growth and shifting interest rate expectations) are still part of the back - drop, but the markets appear to be slowly stabilising and adapting to “the new normal”. 1.2 Key Trends Technology Technology deals continue to drive the Danish M&A market. TMT remains the biggest sector by deal count, with particular interest in fintech, healthtech and green tech companies. Targets within B2B ser - vices have also drawn increased interest. Private Equity Private equity (PE) remains a central force in the mar - ket, particularly in the mid-market segment. Funds are actively pursuing buy-and-build strategies while also seeking to divest mature portfolio companies. 2025 has been a year in fluctuation for PE, with more acqui - sitions than exits. Defence and Security A notable emerging theme has been heightened activ - ity linked to the defence and security sector. Increased European defence spending, driven by geopoliti - cal tensions and NATO commitments, has sparked investor interest in Danish companies operating within defence technology, cybersecurity, advanced manu - facturing, and dual-use solutions. Strategic buyers and financial sponsors alike are positioning them - selves to benefit from long-term public spending pro - grammes and supply chain localisation initiatives. As a result, defence-related assets are attracting higher
Over the past twelve months, the Danish M&A market has remained active, with the mid-market being the key driver, which is a continuing trend. In early 2025, the market was already showing signs of recovery from the fluctuations of the preceding years. Deal volumes were increasing compared with 2024, and activity levels were among the strongest seen since before the pandemic. In the first quarter of 2025, there was a double-digit rise in the number of transactions versus the same period in 2024, with sectors such as technology, media and telecoms (TMT) continuing to dominate. Early data highlighted a positive trend despite geopolitical uncertainty, and cross-border transactions remained part of the deal mix. Throughout the year, the sectoral profile of dealmak - ing remained consistent in some respects — TMT continued to account for the largest share of transac - tions — but there were also shifts. Activity in areas like real estate, hospitality and construction showed particularly strong growth later in 2025 compared to recent slower years, and industrial segments such as automotive and transportation experienced significant upticks in deal count. One of the developments since early last year has been the scale of outward investment by Danish com - panies: 2025 saw large Danish acquisitions abroad, with cross-border deals in sectors ranging from logis - tics to biotech and consumer goods contributing to record levels of direct investment overseas.
412 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook