Roschier Holmberg's report on Finland

Roschier Holmberg, the Helsinki-based law firm, has released a report on Finland’s standing within the European and global economies. The first section provides an analysis on recent trends both within Finland and in relation to the wider European region:

‘The turn of the century has been marked by booming activity in the Finnish M&A market. During 2001, the number of public company cross-border transactions and tender offers has continued to increase whereas the Finnish equity capital markets, in line with other European and US markets, have experienced a slow-down. The overall increase in M&A activity in recent years can be seen largely as due to the immense growth of competitiveness of the Finnish economy, the abolishment of traditional market boundaries within the EU and the introduction of the euro. ‘For lawyers, deal-flow in Finland is the highest in the world in terms of size and number of deals per partners’.

‘Domestic consolidation has played an important role as a first step in the process of Finnish companies increasing their efforts to meet stronger competition in the European and international markets. Companies have been exercising their expansive ambitions by acquiring businesses and integrating operations while focusing on their core competencies and actively disposing of non-core businesses. Moving on to the international markets in search of further growth, both Finnish and other Nordic-based companies are taking advantage of the integration of the Nordic countries into the Nordic Home Market, by reorganising operations and building up strength through pan-Nordic consolidation. This has enabled many companies successfully to meet the challenges brought along by tightened international competition. The integration of Nordic companies leading to the formation of larger entities to compete on the European and international markets, and the increased focus on core business are strong trends, which seem to be continuing. Integration between Nordic companies and companies in one or more Baltic countries in fields such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, forestry, energy, metals, food, banking and insurance, has also taken place and is expected to continue in other fields of business.’

‘The intense cross-border transactional activity has resulted in new challenges and opportunities for law firms in the Nordic countries. The massive multi-jurisdictional legal work required for such transactions required both breadth and depth in the interface between the law firms involved and emphasises the need to deliver a seamless international service and an international product.’

‘A small number of players in the Nordic legal field with the necessary capacity, degree of specialisation and expertise to carry out these transactions has gradually crystalised. This has resulted in uniquely intense cross-border cooperation amongst independent law firms. Through this cooperation, standardised procedures and working methods, as well as an improved general ability to deal with the multi-jurisdictional issues, have developed.’

The second section describes the current market situation and the overall international climate in which the Roschier Holmberg Transaction Team operates:

‘Despite a tiny population of around five million people, Finland is one of Europe’s most prosperous nations. According to the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report 2000-2001, Finland is now the world’s most competitive country, after being in second place for the previous two years. This is indicative of Finland’s success in its shift from being a resource-based to a knowledge-based economy.’

‘The radical political and economic changes in recent years have marked the beginning of a new era for North Eastern Europe. A new market for advanced industry and trade, the so-called ‘New Northern Europe’, seems to be emerging. The New Northern Europe not only consists of the Nordic countries, but also of the North-Western parts of Russia (including St Petersburg and Moscow) and the Baltic States. The total population of the ‘New Northern Europe’ amounts to approximately 80 million customers offering substantial business opportunities for international companies.’

‘In practice, Helsinki has often been chosen as a base for international companies with operations throughout the Baltic area. Rationales behind such a choice include, in addition to the strategic location (transactions in the Baltic trading area are easy to monitor with Helsinki as the operational and administrative centre), the high level of Finnish infrastructure as well as the Finnish tax regime, which treats investments through Finland quite favourably.’

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• Topics
• Nordics
• Industrials