Healthcare M&A activity in Norway in 2022-2023

Deal volume and size

We have registered and analysed 35 transactions with a Norwegian target company in the relevant period (2022-2023). We assume that some deals are confidential and have not been registered, but our assumption is however, that most of the deals missing from this survey are relatively small equity funding transactions. **

The deals analysed are a mix of deal types, where pure majority stake M&A comprises 66%. Venture and seed funding comprise 26% of the registered deals.

In 12 of the 35 deals, enterprise value or deal size was disclosed. The bulk of these deals were small-cap transactions, where 10 deals had a deal value less than EUR 7 million. The largest transactions where deal size is public are Dr. Dropin’s EUR 19 million equity funding and Observe Medical’s EUR 21 million acquisition of Biim Ultrasound. Although deal value is not publicly available, we expect (based on publicly available accounts) that Driv Kapital’s investment in Medicus and Akademiklinikkens acquisition of Cosmo Clinic, would be among the largest deals in the period.

Sub-sectors

The most active sub-sectors are medical equipment and products (34%) and medtech/healthtech (31%). Conventional medical/hospital services accounted for 17% of the deals, while 9% of the deals were in the fertility space. ***

Investors

We have seen a broad spectrum of buyers and investors. Some listed entities (Observe Medical and Nordic Nanovector) have completed transactions, and some industrial players, such as Capio/Volvat and OneMed, through their Finnish subsidiary OneMed Oy, have been active.

We note that corporate ventures, such as Schibsted and Norgesgruppen, have entered the sector, and that private equity and venture funds (Verdane, Serendipity Partners, Longship and Skagerak) are still relatively active. Other familiar names in the Norwegian investor community, such as Kistefos, Stenshagen and Andenes, have also participated in Norwegian healthcare deals in the relevant period.

Norwegian investors make up 65% of the total. The remaining investors come from various jurisdictions, with only Sweden, Finland, and Germany having more than one investment in Norwegian companies during this period. Among foreign investments into Norway, also Israel, US, Switzerland and Belgium are represented. 

Over the period, a considerable number of transactions have been completed, indicating a strong appetite for healthcare assets in Norway. However, the general turmoil in the capital markets and M&A market has impacted the deal volume, particularly in the mid-market and large cap segments. Political uncertainty may also have impacted investors’ willingness to meet pricing expectations on the sell-side. With respect to deal value, it is safe to say that the last few years have been dominated by small cap deals in the Norwegian market.

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* We have excluded biotech/pharmaceuticals, dental care, general care service (including mental health) and animal health.
** Our main source of information has been Mergermarket.com, a recognised, international data base tracking and announcing global M&A activity. 
*** We acknowledge that there is some overlap in sub-sectors, particularly between medtech and medical products. In a market where buyers have paid a premium for tech companies, sellers tend to emphasise the target company’s tech aspect, when marketing the transaction.