NORWAY Trends and Developments Contributed by: Fredrik Lykke, Christian P. N. Fenner and Magnus Brox, Advokatfirma DLA Piper AS
production, also appear to have had an impact. Over the last five to ten years, Norway has seen significant foreign investment in onshore wind farms, but this trend has more or less come to a standstill for regula - tory and tax reasons. Considerable unease endures as a result of the cur - rent global tariff discussions given Norway’s very open economy and the fact that it is not a member of the EU. Norway unsuccessfully negotiated with the EU to be included in the EU’s deal with the US based on the latter’s tariffs on steel even though Norway is only an affiliated EU member via its EEA agreement. Although the EEA agreement does cover the “four freedoms”, it does not include a tariff union, and although EU and Norway often agree on a number of issues outside the strict scope of the EEA agreement, the parties did not manage to agree this time. Due to recent geopolitical developments, and a tight - ened sanctions regime, the focus on beneficial owner - ship has been stepped up when it comes to foreign investment in Norway, particularly for sensitive sec - tors, including crucial infrastructure. The implementa - tion of the tightened terms of National Securities Act is still pending but could take effect soon. Compared to recent years, the potential buyer universe has shrunk quite significantly. Considerations concerning integ - rity due diligence and beneficial ownership are now a significant focus when initiating sales processes and screening possible buyer candidates. Several public legal disputes played out in the Norwe - gian public takeover market in 2023, and this could turn into a growing trend. The most significant was the dispute concerning the failed takeover offer for Insta - bank ASA, in which the Oslo City Court ruled that the bidder, Lunar Bank, could not withdraw its offer due to a lack of regulatory approval. This matter was settled out of court in December 2024 prior to the scheduled Court of Appeal hearing. Further, there are disputes concerning private placements versus rights issues and whether certain shareholders are receiving unjust favourable treatment compared to others. The listed Solstad Offshore ASA (a leading provider of specialised offshore tonnage to the global energy markets) carried out a complex restructuring in 2023, resulting in Aker becoming the majority owner of the assets of the issuer.
Certain significant minority shareholders in Solstad Off - shore argue that the restructuring should have taken place by a rights issue or by otherwise providing minor - ity shareholders with a higher stake in the restructured group, and that the board of Solstad thus favoured one shareholder. Several minority shareholders (close to 50, including the main claimant Kistefos) have now started a claim before the courts against the Board of Solstad, its investment banker Pareto and Aker. Such lawsuits have been highly uncommon in the Norwegian market. Recent Tax Increases and Consequences Thereof In the last quarter of 2022, Norway’s government introduced a number of new and increased taxes within certain sectors, such as fish farming and elec - tricity production. The new tax rules are expected to reduce investment appetite, although, at least on the fish farming side, actual tax payable has been lower than expected, as operators are taking tax mitigating action. Norway’s government also started to raise tax for high net worth (HNW) individuals (with a combi - nation of increased dividend tax and net worth tax). This has resulted in quite a significant number of HNW individuals moving to Switzerland and other countries. This “leaving Norway” trend is continuing, although to a somewhat lesser degree with the implementation of new “exit tax rules” designed to try to keep wealthy Norwegians in place. This has resulted in difficulties getting foreign experts to move to Norway for medi - um-term positions in Norwegian companies as they fear tax traps. We also see an increasing number of younger talents/entrepreneurs/founders moving out before their start-ups become successful. Currency Trends In the last few years, the Norwegian krone has depre - ciated significantly against most currencies, particu - larly the US dollar, the euro and the British pound. This is supportive of exporting businesses and has resulted in more attractive pricing for foreign buyers. The krone has appreciated again quite significantly, in particular against the US dollar, in the last three to four months, one of the main reasons being that Nor - wegian interest rates have materially exceeded euro interest rates for a while. The recent increase in oil prices has added to this effect.
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