Overall Nordic deal volume slide continued – Buyout deals picked up

• Overall Nordic deal volume decline continued in May, although with a more gradual slope. Deceleration in the VC deal activity continued, but positively the buyout deals picked up in May.
• Nordic aggregate three-month rolling deal count level came to 90%, whereas the Finnish deals totaled 111%, mainly due to low deal volumes in the comparison period in January and February, despite the low deal count in May.

• Juuri Partners’ second fund reached the target size of EUR 125M and held the final closing in May. The new fund executes both minority and majority investments in Finnish growth companies with sales between EUR 5-150M.
• Bocap announced the launch of its 3rd private equity fund, Bocap SME Achievers Fund III, dedicated to established, outperforming small and medium-sized high growth Finnish companies with sales of EUR 4-50M in prominent industries. The first close was held at EUR 50M and the target is to make the final closing at EUR 70m by the end of 2020.
• Verso Capital held a first close for its new fund, Verso Fund III, with a total investment commitment of EUR 66M. The target size for the fund is EUR 100M and  the fundraising will continue until the end of 2020. Verso Capital is a growth stage buyout investor with a special focus on carve-out situations.

• Origin by Ocean raised EUR 2M of seed funding from Moomin Characters Oy, KPMG, Kiilto Ventures and Riitta Ekengren. The company processes harvested blue-green algae and farmed bladderwrack, simultaneously combating the eutrophication of the Baltic Sea. Valuable bio-based molecules are extracted from this feedstock for the use within food & beverage, cosmetics, hygiene, and pharmaceutical industries.
• Vaaka Partners has acquired a majority stake in Finland-based information system and accounting services company Staria Oyj. In 2019, Staria’s turnover was €18M with more than 40% organic growth. 
• Finnish food delivery company Wolt announced the completion of a EUR 100M investment round. The funding was provided by a range of new and existing investors, including ICONIQ Capital, Highland Europe, 83North, EQT Ventures, and Goldman Sachs Growth Equity.

Private Equity Data Snapshot compiles monthly deal volume data from Finland and the Nordics. Read our older Private Equity Data Snapshots.

Data Snapshot will be on summer break in July and the next issue will be published in August. Have a nice summer.