In the midst of uncertainties in the broader market, M&A activity demonstrated resilience during 1H 2023, solidifying its role as a corporate value creation strategy.

Summary

The Norwegian M&A market experienced a decline in the number of transactions during the first half of 2023 compared to the exceptional performance of the same period in 2022. Nevertheless, the activity level represents a slight improvement over the latter part of 2022.

Roaming uncertainties will continue to influence deal processes and decisions. We do however remain optimistic about increasing M&A activity as these uncertainties ease up. The number of transactions per quarter is still significantly higher than what we observed in pre-pandemic years. The overall picture is that business owners increasingly regard M&A as an effective means to create value.

In this report, we have broken down and analyzed the constituents of the development in activity levels. You are welcome to take a closer look at sector distribution, buyer types, and cross border transactions.

Amidst market uncertainties and geopolitical tensions, transaction volumes remain notably higher than pre-pandemic years. In general, we observe that business owners increasingly regard strategic acquisitions as an effective means to create value, and we expect M&A to become more central within corporate strategy. In the current market environment, buyers hold the advantage, making deal execution crucial for sellers. With buyers becoming more cautious in their acquisitions, sellers must be well-prepared for structured deal processes in order to not compromise too much on value. Nikolai Lunde, Managing Partner at Oaklins Norway