Nordics
H1 Review: Cloudy with a chance of slowdown
With European deployment tapering in the first half, Unquote crunches the numbers and gauges market expectations for the months ahead
Norway’s largest pension fund aims to ramp up PE investments
LP can currently invest in IPOs and unlisted companies that express an intention to list
EQT confirms IPO plans, aims to raise €500m
Largest shareholder Investor AB and more than 70 partners in the firm will sell shares as part of the listing
VCs sell Bitbar to trade
PE-backed SmartBear bolts on Finland-based Bitbar, a mobile app test automation company
Novax sells 28% stake in EMG to Verdane
Norway-based PE firm Verdane acquires a minority stake in the education marketing business
Obvious Ventures leads SEK 100m series-A for Hedvig
Cherry Ventures and D-Ax, the early-stage investment arm of Axel Johnson, also take part
Monterro buys Specops
Monterro claims to be the largest investor in the Nordic region focused purely on B2B software
Creandum promotes Specht to principal
In his new role, Specht will lead deals of all sizes across Europe and the US
Nordic Capital, Sampo buy Nofi stake for €223m
GP draws capital from Nordic Capital IX, which held a final close in May last year
CapMan sells Kämp Hotels to Nordic Choice Hospitality Group
Transaction is the fifth exit from the 2013 CapMan Buyout X fund
Hg-backed IT Relation buys Miracle42
Hg acquired IT Relation for an enterprise value of around DKK 1bn in June last year
Q2 Barometer: small-cap boom offsets mid-market lull
Europe records 533 buyout, expansion and early-stage investments over Q2, a nine-quarter low
IK sells Ellab to EQT
IK Investment Partners held the thermal validation services company for three years
PE-backed Nets offloads division to Mastercard for €2.85bn
Acquisition comprises Nets' clearing and instant payment services, and e-billing solutions
BlackRock et al. in $460m funding round for Klarna
Funding round values the payments and financing service at $5.5bn
Altor sells Enhanced Drilling to EV Private Equity
EV Private Equity will combine Enhanced Drilling with Enhanced Well Technologies
Nordic region sees highest entry multiples for sixth quarter running
Q2 edition of the Clearwater International Multiples Heatmap finds a slight cooldown across Europe, though the average multiple still exceeds 10x
Nordic Capital supports Cint in P2Sample acquisition
Customer insight software developer Cint already has offices in New York and LA
LP Profile: Argentum
Unquote catches up with CEO Joachim Høegh-Krohn to discuss the firm’s evolution and his views on the current state of the market
Alcentra closes European direct lending fund on €5.5bn
Predecessor held a final close on €4.3bn in 2017 and had an average ticket size of around €100m
Sunstone backs Forendo Pharma
Fresh capital will be used to advance its endometriosis programme into the next phase
Rewriting the rulebook: how technology is disrupting PE
A round-up of key takeaways from speakers at Unquote's Allocate conference in June
FSN sells Velcora to trade for SEK 1.28bn
Acquisition includes Velcora's Roplan and Steridose businesses, both headquartered in Sweden
CVC closes second long-term fund
CVC is the first of the multi-product managers to raise a second-generation long-term capital fund