Weekly round-up: Swedish industry dodges a bullet

Amy King
20 December 2013

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Nordic Capital wins landmark court case, KKR's Scheiber on gender quotas, private equity investments in the robotics sector... Here is your weekly round-up of industry analysis provided by unquote"

Nordic Capital won its appeal against the Swedish tax authority last week. unquote" traced the evolution of the country's high-profile carried interest tax battle, speaking to representatives of Nordic Capital and the defeated tax authority.

KKR partner Silke Scheiber spoke to unquote" about investing in the industrial sector, team diversity and the introduction of gender quotas in boardrooms. Regarding the outlook for the industry in 2014, she said: "Some of the structuring reforms across Europe are slowly beginning to show positive effects. Improved confidence will lead large corporations to doing more acquisitions and divestments. This will, in turn, lead to increased dealflow for us. At the same time, the banking sector still strongly needs to deleverage, which leads to a greater need for private equity."

As robotic solutions begin to enter the mainstream, unquote" explored the relationship between private equity and the sub-sector. Although the US has seen several high-profile large funding rounds, the European robotic sector is more muted. Could the smaller amounts raised in Europe delay technology development and drag down high-value exits? Or will cheaper production costs and the rapid pace of tech development make the production of robotic solutions more cost-effective and more attractive to VCs?

With Christmas around the corner, unquote" outlined which private equity-backed consumer goods companies are poised for a windfall. With hair styling brand GHD, iconic footwear firm Doc Martens and beleaguered video game retailer Game among the assets picked up by private equity this year, it seems the industry will make its presence known on Christmas Day.

That's all from me this week but if you have any comments on this week's analysis, please send your thoughts to amy.king@incisivemedia.com. The weekly update will return on 13 January.

You can continue to follow me and the rest of the unquote" team via @unquotenews for all the latest private equity and venture capital updates, and of course on unquote.com.

Amy King
Senior Reporter, unquote"