From Newsmax

Investors are discovering that there’s good business to be done in the world’s happiest nation.

The value of deals targeting companies in Finland has risen 400% this year, the biggest increase in European countries with at least 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) in transactions, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That compares with an overall drop in the value of European deals of around 12% from a year earlier, reflecting growing uncertainty over global growth and trade.

“Finnish companies are in a good shape, balance sheets are strong,” said Petteri Ankila, who manages corporate finance and investment banking for Nordea Bank Abp in Finland. “For private equity investors able to use high leverage, they get a very good return on equity, and that makes deals attractive.”

Companies based in the Nordic nation have been the subject of 5.3 billion euros worth of bids so far this year, while Finnish companies have spent about 3.2 billion euros in mergers and acquisitions.

Several large deals have driven up the aggregate value.

The biggest was the purchase by Norwegian telecoms operator Telenor ASA of rival DNA Oyj for roughly 2.8 billion euros in April. Last week, the French building services company Loxam SAS acquired Ramirent Oyj, a construction equipment rental company, for about 978 million euros in cash.

At the end of last year, Amer Sports Oyj made headlines after it was snapped up for about 4.6 billion euros by a consortium led by China’s Anta Sports Products Ltd.

“Looking at some of the large deals recently, such as Amer Sports or Ramirent, the premiums have been good,” Ankila said by phone on Thursday. “You can’t say the companies were bought cheaply.”

The bid for Amer Sports, at 40 euros a share, was 39% higher than its trading price before news of the deal broke in September. Ramirent is being acquired at a 65% premium relative to the closing price before the transaction was announced.

Nordic companies are “attractive” as M&A targets because of their business models, transparency and ability to quickly adapt to new technologies, Ankila said.

“As economic growth slows, companies that are in good shape are looking for acquisitions to grow their business,” according to Ankila. “There’s ample liquidity available both at the banks and on the bond market, and that definitely drives M&A.”

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