Acquisition fund with 150 billion will invest in Norway – not afraid of the government’s tax policy
The Dutch acquisition fund Waterland, which has 14 billion euros (150 billion kroner) under management, is not completely unknown in Norway. The fund owns Danish All Things Live, which has made several acquisitions in the entertainment industry in this country. The most well-known is probably Stand up Norway, and most recently last summer bought the company Stageway group.
Well, Waterland will also establish an office in Norway, where the fund intends to buy at least five Norwegian companies in the next few years.
Don’t be intimidated
After the Støre government’s tax changes in harvesting, on everything from fish farming to renewable energy and adjustments in the oil industry’s incentive package, it was several players in the business world, such as NHO and the big bank DNB, who warned that foreign investors would be scared away.
But Danish Kaspar Kristiansen, who is a day-to-day manager and partner in Waterland and will manage the Oslo office from Copenhagen, allows himself to be intimidated – even though he has not been a manager, that he could have been about things without.
– It is not optimal, but we still have good potential. We’re not scared, but we would have preferred that they didn’t make these changes.
At the same time as Waterland announces the establishment of the Oslo office and the investment in Norway, the company reports that it has just raised new capital for new funds, with 3.5 billion and 500 million euros respectively. According to a press release, the investors are from Europe and other continents, and consist of asset managers, public and private pension funds, insurance companies, state funds, endowments, foundations and family offices.
The funds, totaling four billion euros, are intended to invest in companies around Europe, including the new venture in Norway. Kristiansen cannot give a clear estimate of how much will end up being invested in Norway.
Bets on green energy
The strategy for Waterland is to invest in medium-sized companies, and fund managers say that there are three particular areas that stand out in Norway: digitalisation/outsourcing, health and green energy.
– We have already invested in green energy in Denmark and the Netherlands, and we look forward to further investments, says Kristiansen.
Green energy has increased in popularity in recent years, both among entrepreneurs and investors. With increased popularity comes competition.
– The competition to get invested in these companies is tough. We must be able to invest in new industries within this calendar year.
For the time being, the Oslo office will have two employees, in addition to Kristiansen who manages from Denmark: Caspar Seip Blakstad and Martin Stette Jessen.
Waterland has a total of nine funds, and has made 900 investments since starting up in the Netherlands in 1999. The company has offices in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Poland, Great Britain, Denmark, Switzerland, Ireland, France, Spain and even Norway.(Terms)Copyright Dagens Næringsliv AS and/or our suppliers. We like to share our stuff using links that lead directly to our pages. Copying or other forms of use of all or part of the content can only be done with written permission or as permitted by law. For additional terms see her.