NORWAY Law and Practice Contributed by: Fredrik Lykke, Christian P. N. Fenner and Magnus Brox, Advokatfirma DLA Piper AS Norway
Advokatfirmaet DLA Piper Norway AS Bryggegata 6 0250 Oslo Norway Tel: +47 24 13 15 00 Email: info@norway.dlapiper.com Web: norway.dlapiper.com
1. Trends 1.1 M&A Market
The trend of few new listings continued into 2025, with just three new IPOs on the main market and 15 direct listings, secondary listings or up-or-down listings from the MTF Euronext Growth. Private equity players remain active in the Norwegian market and are involved in a significant number of M&A transactions (sell side, buy side, or both). “International capital” remains a large component of the buyer universe, in particular in the larger transac - tions, be they Swedish, US or UK private equity or industrials. Also of note is the enduring trend for “continuation vehicle” transactions in private equity and for trans - actions in which private equity and corporates join forces. In the Norwegian market, a deal size exceeding EUR250 million is considered large. Although the majority of reportable transactions have a deal size of between EUR35 million and EUR100 million, more and more transactions are now in the region of EUR100 million to EUR400 million and above. 1.2 Key Trends As in 2023 and 2024, there were a number of mid- market transactions in 2025 and, in total, close to 950 recorded transactions, predominantly driven by add-on acquisitions by private equity-backed portfo - lio companies and corporates. There were few mega deals in 2025.
Overall, the 2025 performance of Norway’s M&A mar - ket appears broadly similar to 2024, with approximate - ly 950 transactions recorded, based on Mergermarket data, although several notable differences between the two years are also evident. As usual, the first quarter was fairly slow, with much higher deal activity seen in Q3 and Q4. Macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty intensi - fied in 2025, with tariff implementations and volatility being key factors. This affected both seller and buyer behaviour in several ways – notably through longer procedures, greater execution risk, fewer “fast-track auction processes” and more protracted exclusive deals. A number of transactions did not go through to signature. Uncertainty surrounding AI has also affected deal processes. There was also continued additional focus on foreign direct investment (FDI) and national security issues, resulting in further emphasis on deal certainty relating to certain buyers. In addi - tion, interest rates remained relatively high in 2025. Recent signals suggest no further interest rate cuts, as inflation is still not under control. Heightened geo - political tensions, including the war with Iran, may also increase energy-market volatility and inflation - ary pressures, which, in turn, could point to higher interest rates. This has contributed to the Norwegian currency’s strengthening against the euro and, in par - ticular, the US dollar in recent months.
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