Finnish M&A market update Q1 2025

As we summarise the events of the first quarter of 2025, several factors suggest a promising outlook for the Finnish M&A market for the rest of the year. M&A activity in Finland has experienced growth for three consecutive quarters, reaching its highest levels since Q1 2023, fueled by declining inflation and interest rates. However, due to recent geopolitical tensions related to tariffs, market volatility has increased significantly, and uncertainty prevails regarding the outlook for the rest of the year.

The recent global market volatility has also created uncertainties to Finnish IPO market. If the stabilisation of equity markets and a return of confidence is achieved, we expect to see the continuation of the IPO activity for the remainder of the year with several candidates in the pipeline.

Key observations from our report:

Positive momentum is building as decreasing interest rates in 2024 have significantly reduced financing costs for potential buyers. Coupled with improving economic conditions and renewed investor confidence, this trend is expected to drive a surge in transaction volumes throughout 2025.
The growth in M&A activity during Q1 was primarily fueled by a significant uptick in domestic transactions. Nonetheless, the overall year-over-year increase in quarterly transaction volume is largely attributed to a surge in cross-border deals, as the volume of domestic transactions has remained flat.
The Finnish IPO market showed signs of revival. During first quarter one transition from First North to the Nasdaq main market took place with two IPOs finalised in the early days of Q2, raising proceeds for the first time since 2022. Both IPOs attracted a lot of investor attention and were oversubscribed. The positive trajectory for the remainder of 2025 is now subject to stabilisation of equity markets and return of confidence.

Read the full report