NORWAY Law and Practice Contributed by: Karoline Ulleland Hoel, Sigurd Opedal, Ole Henrik Wille and Daniel Nygaard Nyberg, Wikborg Rein Advokatfirma AS
Wikborg Rein Advokatfirma AS Dronning Mauds gate 11 0250 Oslo Norway
Tel: +47 22 82 75 00 Fax: +47 22 82 75 01 Email: sop@wr.no Web: www.wr.no
1. Transaction Activity 1.1 Private Equity Transactions and M&A Deals in General 2024 Activity In 2024, Norway recorded a new high of 924 exe - cuted transactions, well above the 748 reported in 2023, according to Mergermarket (numbers gathered retrospectively). Despite persistent macro-economic factors, such high interest rates and the US presiden - tial election, with the anticipation of President Trump’s second term, deal activity remained strong throughout the year. Equity capital markets showed moderate recovery, with IPOs increasing from ten IPOs/listings in 2023 to 19 in 2024 (seven on Euronext Growth and one on Euronext Expand), the vast majority of which in the second half. Of the 11 IPOs/listings on Euronext Oslo Børs, six were uplifts from Euronext Expand and Euronext Growth. The trend of takeovers and public- to-private transactions continued, with 29 delistings (13 from Euronext Growth). Deal volume was predominantly led by the technol - ogy (22%), industrial (21%) and the business services (14%) sectors, while energy and natural resources, real estate and technology accounted for the largest deal values, at 29%, 17% and 17%, respectively. 2025 Activity Over the past 12 months, the Norwegian M&A market has shown remarkable resilience, despite a challeng - ing global economic landscape marked by geopolitical uncertainty and persistently elevated interest rates.
Following his January 2025 inauguration, President Trump reintroduced US tariffs on selected internation - al goods, sparking trade tensions and global coun - termeasures. The “Liberation Day” tariffs announced in April further disrupted the international trade land - scape, generating widespread uncertainty among businesses and industries. As of mid-2025, the trade landscape remains largely unsettled. Despite this, M&A activity in Norway remained strong, with 450 transactions in the first half of 2025, compared to 475 in the same period the year before. Deal activity in the first half of 2025 was again domi - nated by the technology, industrials, and business services sectors. However there was a slight decline in technology’s share to 19%, while there was an uptick in industrial to 24% and business services to 16%. By the end of the first quarter of 2025, domestic trans - actions accounted for an unprecedented 46% of all M&A activity, significantly above the historical average of around 32%. The shift toward domestic dealmaking has been driven by continued regulatory uncertainty, the relative depreciation of the Norwegian krone, and persistently elevated interest rates maintained by Norges Bank at 4.5%. Equity capital markets also remained stable. Despite ongoing global uncertainty, nine IPOs/listings were completed in the first half of 2025 – three of which were uplifts – mirroring the first half of 2024, signalling continued issuer interest in the public market.
465 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook