While the European M&A market has been in a seasonal lull, dealmaking in the Nordic region has already started in earnest.

The region’s dealmakers, who typically enjoy their long summer holidays in July, have been busy with filling pipelines and requests for proposals (RFPs) since early August. The read-through to the wider European market is positive.

“The rest of the year is looking very good for us, with both M&A and IPO situations to keep us busy,” one Nordic banker said.

Mergermarket’s auction tracker shows that nine Nordic situations shifted phase in August, versus six in July, and seven in June.

August phase shifters include both pure sale candidates, as well as those positioned for dual-track sale or IPO processes. The former includes Triton Partners-backed care services provider Esperi Care in Finland; and MVI’s Swedish accounting services provider Freedom Group.

Those that could either be sold or listed include Altor-backed Danish industrial machinery business Norican Group; and Vaaka Partners-owned Finnish soundproof office-pod manufacturer Framery.

The region could do with some successful IPOs following an underwhelming start to listings in 2025, as reported.

While the M&A pipeline is looking healthy, some dealmakers have a more cautious outlook and are not expecting 2H25 to see much increase in deal activity compared to the first half of the year. “It is a bit of a mixed picture at the moment,” said another regional banker. “There is activity but not that many large situations. M&A will probably remain at a similar level to the first half.”

Even so, the market could gain a shot of confidence from the increase in average M&A valuations this year compared to 2024. Mergermarket data shows that the median enterprise value (EV)/ EBITDA multiple in the Nordics for deals announced so far in 2025 is 12.9x (across 59 transactions that disclosed this value), compared to 8.35x in 2024 (across 63 deals).

Nordic M&A valuations in 2025:

YTD value outperforms

In the year to date (YTD), total Nordic deal values have outperformed the same period last year, with EUR 63.2bn YTD25 versus EUR 42.5bn YTD24, according to Mergermarket data. In fact, activity is within spitting distance of YTD21, which overall was a record M&A year.

The number of deals has been slightly lower this year compared to YTD24, with 1,556 deals compared to 1,705, respectively.

In terms of sectors, healthcare has topped the YTD25 table by far with EUR 19.5bn, with technology coming second with EUR 11.1bn.

Yet, the tech sector has seen the largest number of deals with 347 transactions. Business services came second with 232 transactions so far this year.

Tech has been dominating as the most active sector in the Nordics for several years, with software assets especially driving deal activity. Yet, the pipeline for 2H25 could be more heavily weighted towards other segments.

“We are not seeing as much software in the pipeline as in previous years. We see more medtech, business services, and industrials,” said an M&A adviser.

Nordic assets in the medtech sale pipeline include Swedish, Amplio-backed provider of medical imaging software for nuclear medicine Hermes Medical Solutions; and Finnish, Paree Group-owned surgical fluid solutions developer Serres.

Consumer health and wellness rising stars of Nordic M&A

The Nordic consumer health and wellness space is experiencing heightened M&A activity, with several assets either up for sale or recently transacted.

Sector companies up for sale include independently-owned nutritional supplements and sports nutrition provider Puhdistamo Real Foods, for which information memoranda (IMs) are expected imminently.

Assets in the sector that have been sold in recent months include Swedish peer MM Sports, which was bought by Norwegian ecommerce player The Feelgood Company. Meanwhile, Belgian healthcare company Vision Healthcare acquired another Swedish competitor Svenskt Kosttillskott. Both deals were announced in July.

More activity in the space is expected in the Nordics, a third banker said.

Other consumer health assets include Danish veterinary care provider Vetopia, which sponsor Axcel is expected to bring to market via mandated advisers at Jefferies.

All in all, with rising deal valuations, a strong pipeline of sale and IPO candidates, and robust YTD transaction volumes, Nordic dealmakers can head into this autumn with confidence. With any luck, the same can be said for the rest of Europe.