IFLR 1000
The Guide to the World's Leading Financial Law Firms

"Everyone in 2010 thought that 2011 would be the year it picked up," says a partner, "but it wasn't the case. 2011 started out much slower than expected considering the headlines of 'Swedish economy booming' but M&A was not affected."

This was the consensus up until mid-2011. The most significant change in the volume and size of deals seen by firms has been in terms of having a pipeline of mandates. "The pipeline is good, a year ago we didn't have a pipeline... financing is back to some extent, Nordic banks primarily, but there are still some gaps in value expectations," says one partner.

Private equity accounts for a large proportion of the market - "it has been fuelling growth in Sweden in the past decades" says one lawyer - and many of the major players such as Nordic Capital, EQT, Triton, Altor and Bain Capital completed large acquisitions. The tempo was picking up in 2011 with some notable differences to the earlier boom years.

"Buyers are still very cautious and not easily being drawn into auction processes and lawyers are being signed up very late in the cycle," says one partner. The partner adds that "a lot of damaged goods are being put on the market and it is a really tough fight to initiate an auction deal, a poker game really, with buyers asking for exclusivity early in the process". The number of participants in the auctions has also dropped, having the effect of squeezing the legal market.

The end result is an increasingly complicated market, with the chase for good assets creating heated competition between clients and firms. "Sometimes there are some very lively auctions, boardroom confidence is up, PR folks are definitely in the market, financing is up; there is more froth in the market than before," says a partner. The focal points of activity at the moment for PE are healthcare, consumer goods and education.

Swedish industry and Swedish blue-chips have remained strong throughout. One partner says it was a "very strong year last year, with 16 public M&A deals and private M&A was very good". There was also some notable investment by Chinese players, such as Geely's acquisition of Volvo in August 2010.

"Public M&A has been rather hectic, but very volatile and very jittery maybe only one in ten finishing," says a partner. Another adds that they have seen "very contested offers, bidding quite hostile, forced to be on borderline of what can be drafted, very tactical".

Mannheimer is very well placed at the moment. "The quality is consistent and they constantly hire, the seventh partner here is probably better than the top partner in most other firms," says a peer. The firm is well embedded with Swedish blue-chips but also has a top private equity practice.

One client uses Mannheimer "for the scale of people, the size and the individual lawyers; in order to manage on the big transactions you need to have this pool to draw on". "They did an excellent job for us," says an insurance client, "they have individuals that understand insurance issues well and they were innovative and creative in finding solutions which were not that normal".

Clients recommend Adam Green for his "creativity and different perspective" and Helsingborg based Johnny Andersson as "always available when we are calling... we feel like we are a priority customer to them". Peers say Biörn Riese "is an icon, the guy to pick".

The firm turns over a high volume of large deals. Among them, Riese, Martin Ericsson, Eva Hägg and Tom Wehtje advised HQ Bank on its sale and merger into Carnegie Investment Bank following HQ Bank's liquidation (also handled by Riese). Johan Lekholm and up-and-comer Patrik Marcelius meanwhile acted for Munters in the high profile $906 million public offer by Nordic Capital owned Cidron Intressenter, completed in November 2010, and the divestment of MSC to Triton, which included transfers of subsidiaries in 15 countries.

The firm advised Q-Med on the $1.1 billion public offer by Nestlé and L'Oreal joint-venture Galderma Pharma. Jan Holmius advised 3i on its $350 million divestment of Ålö to private equity firm Altor, and Green assisted Koninklijke Philips Electronics on its acquisition of the mammography equipment company Sectra.

Vinge is a go-to firm in Sweden for all walks of M&A: private, public and private equity in a wide spread of sectors. It has nevertheless not had the best couple of years, with commentators noting some staff changes. Consensus is that its reputation will prevail and the changes do not affect the firm's performance on big ticket deals.

According to clients, the firm is "very good for general corporate business but they have had some problem with their staffing and lost a lot of good senior associates, so their partners are busy". However, clients widely recommend the firm "for its reputation and experience" and argue that it has "good people" and "attracts good people". "Good work and high level," says a client who picks it above others and recommends Christina Kokko for doing "a very good job" and Michael Wigge.

Its top deal saw Kokko and Daniel Rosvall lead a team to advise EQT on a $1.9 billion facility from a consortium of lenders for its acquisition of Dometic Group. The deal was not completed but all the ground was prepared.

Björn Mullaart led a large team to act for Skåne Dairy in its sale of 51% of the shares in ProViva to Danone Group, which will in a period of eleven years fully take over the company, while Johan Winnerblad and Petter Kjöllerström advised the shareholders of Millennium Media Group on its divestment of Turner Broadcasting Europe. The firm has a strong TMT sector presence.

At the start of 2010 Carl Gustaf De Geer and Henrik Wenckert, with a very large team of associates, closed a deal for the Swedish state of Swedish pharmacies companies to a number of different bidders.

Cederquist had a number of changes through 2010-2011 and at one point in 2010 was down to just one partner. The team is back up to four partners, having hired aggressively. New recruits include New York White & Case partner Martin Ulfson and Hammarskiöld & Co partner Carl-Johan Deuschl, as well as about eight associates.

"They are going to be good," says a peer, "Ulfson is good and they got a very good young partner from Hammarskiöld... a terrific local counsel firm, by far the most used, trying to build a partnership". "Good, young, very hungry, very eager to compete, I'm sure they will succeed," says another competitor.

The firm has its strongest reputation in mid-cap private equity deals, with clients such as Accent Equity, Polaris and Norlandia Care.

A foreign client recommends Ulfson and senior associate Carl Granström, "Martin [Ulfson] practiced for five years in New York so he was very good at the transatlantic aspects of the deal". "We wanted a local firm as it was an acquisition of a local company," says the client, and "they were very responsive, very good advice, it got tough but they were relaxed and we had quite an advantage over the company that we were buying".

In its top deal, the firm led by Petter Wirell advised Geely (of the Zhejiang Geely Holding Group) on the local law aspects of its $2.07 billion acquisition of Volvo Car Corporation, an historic deal finalised in August 2010.

Other key deals saw Ulfson lead a team to act for Research In Motion (RIM) on its acquisition of user interface developer The Astonishing Tribe (TAT), a key hi-tech sector deal. Lars Bärnheim meanwhile assist Accent Equity on its $64 million acquisition of Gunnebo Troax.

G&D is a "very consistent high quality firm" says a competitor. The firm's Achilles heel is its smaller presence in the private M&A and private equity markets, while for public M&A and blue-chip industries it is second to none in reputation, which is backed up by an impressive deal list.

In possibly its top deal, Dick Lundqvist and Krister Skoog advised Providence Education International in its $365 million public cash offer to all shareholders in AcadeMedia. Other highly recognised public offers saw Lundqvist and Fredrik Palm advise Alfa Laval on its $873 million public cash offer for Munters and Bob Johansson assist Ticket Travel Group (TTG) on Norwegian investment company Braganza's mandatory public offer for all outstanding shares.

Two more deal highlights saw Anders Lundin advised NYSE listed vehicle engineering company BorgWarner listed on its $226 million acquisition of Haldex Traction Holding and Marcus Johansson, Niclas Rockborn, Andreas Holmqvist and Mikael Borg acted for Carnegie Investment Bank on its $175 million acquisition of all shares in the failed bank HQ Bank and its Swedish fund company HQ Fonder Sverige.

Elsewhere, Lundqvist, Mats Hugoson and Palm advised Pernod Ricard and its subsidiary Vin & Sprit on the sale of certain Nordic brands, including Explorer, Blossa, Chill Out and Svenska Nubbar, and related assets to Altia for $133 million, while Carl Westerberg and Holmqvist assisted Nasdaq OMX listed technical consulting company ÅF in its $48 million acquisition of Energo.

Linklaters has had the best overall record in the Swedish market in M&A, coming second in the Mergermarket tables for value for 2010 behind Mannheimer Swartling and first over the last five year period. Its deals for 2010/2011 are also second to none.

Consensus is that the Swedish office suffered from the firm's strategy of downsizing and that it now focuses only on the very largest and most complex deals. "When they are in the game they always go for the big time transaction," says a peer. "An interesting firm," says another, "the deliberate scale down has been so successful", while another says the firm has "been here for years...has a good brand and very good individuals". One question raised by some clients and peers is that of "critical mass" on the ground, which has deterred some.

In possibly the firm's top deal and Sweden's largest public takeover in 2010, Fredrik Lunqvist led a team involving various offices to advise Assa Abloy on its $1.8 billion public bid for Cardo, which was successfully completed in March 2011. Again supported by a huge cross-border contingent, the firm assisted Assa Abloy its subsequent sale of Cardo Flow Solutions.

Krister Hansen, who is well regarded by peers across the market and highly visible, led a cross border team to advise Macquarie on its $318 million acquisition of the heat operations and facilities of Fortum, outside the Stockholm region and headed another team to assist Triton Managers III on its acquisition of the non-wire operations of the Ovako group.

Elisabet Lundgren also had an active year and among her mandates led a team to advise Fresenius Medical Care on its agreement to acquire Gambro's worldwide peritoneal dialysis business. Other key deals saw the firm advise Thermo Fisher Scientific on its €2.47 billion acquisition of the Swedish Phadia Group, and Pa Nang on its €245 million equity investment in Swedish Automobile, the owner of Saab.

According to competitors Roschier has had a "tremendous start". "I am impressed with them, they have been here four years and they have built a good business model with good partners, very strong, we see them very often," says a competitor. The firm is currently on an aggressive expansion drive.

One large client says the firm "are very responsive and very good in all Nordic M&A" and recommends Jens Bengtsson and Ola Åhman. Another client, who has used all the top firms, says that "Roschier is probably not yet the best but they are very up and coming and scratching among the best". Clients consistently rate the firm highly for communication and client relations.

The firm won mandates on many of the high profile public offers and in one deal, with Åhman at the helm of a large team, it advised Galderma Pharma on its €800 million public takeover of listed Swedish company Q-Med in December 2010. In the transaction Roschier broke new ground for the Swedish market with a directed earn out structure and with unequal treatment of shareholders.

In a sign of its acceptance among the Swedish corporate royalty, leading blue chip Investor engaged Bengtsson, Axel Calissendorff, Fredrik Rydin and counsel Per-Owe Dorfh on its €465 million acquisition of Swedish healthcare company Aleris Holding from EQT.

In notable private equity deals, Bengtsson acted for Bain Capital along with Kirkland & Ellis on its $1.63 billion acquisition of Styron Division from the Dow Chemical Company, and advised Altor Fund III, the private equity fund of Altor Equity Partners, on its acquisition of a 90.5% stake in EON ES Sverige, the Swedish turnkey engineering and contracting company.

The six partner led corporate team at White & Case is best known in private equity (PE), but, as one peer comments, the firm has also been increasing its standing in public M&A in recent years. Peers note that the firm's exposure to the sluggish PE market took some toll, but also consistently point out that it has a good brand name in Sweden. The firm has one of the strongest deal lists in the market.

One private equity client which uses the firm on funds work, corporate financing and M&A says the firm has "a very strong standing in corporate finance, they deliver good quality advice, timely attention and sound advice. You can really rely on them for all the bread and butter stuff", says the client, "and while some firms can be very dogmatic and hard to deviate, our culture is analytically flexible and so are they." The client recommends Claes Zettermarck.

According to a peer, Zettermarck is "one of the founding fathers of the office, a very good and exceptional lawyer and deservedly listed".

A client which used the firm on a couple of acquisitions says: "Very good, I must say, proactive and they did a great job." Another client praises Mats Boman as "very pragmatic, understands quickly our objectives [and] requirements... highly regarded, very good in many areas but especially M&A".

Anna Sundberg and Lennart Pettersson acted for Nycomed Sweden Holding on the divestment of the majority of the Nycomed group to Takeda Pharmaceutical Company for €9.6 billion to a consortium of private equity funds, including Nordic Capital Funds V and VI, where we represented Nordic Capital. Ulf Johanssen and the well regarded Tuula Tallavaara acted for EQT V on it $3.34 billion sale of Securitas Direct to a consortium led by Bain Capital and Hellman & Freidman in June 2011.

Jan Lombach led on a large merger advising the boards of directors of the Nasdaq OMX Stockholm listed companies Latour and SäkI to form the largest industrial holding companies in Sweden with an estimated net asset value of $3.9 billion.

As pointed out last year Hannes has had a very strong first few years in the market and has been especially quick to establish itself in M&A.

"They've been successful and really good, went really fast, now 60 or 70 lawyers, so huge amount of really young lawyers," says a peer. Alluding to the youth of the team one peer bets that "in long term they will be a strong practice". It is now the tenth biggest law firm in Sweden and "very well in upper echelons of the market", says another peer.

Although a young firm in some respects, the M&A team is led by an experienced group plucked from the core of Setterwalls: Jan Jensen, Sören Lindström and Richard Åkerman.

The firm was fortunate to back a number of winning parties in some of the largest public M&A deals of the year. Lindström and Fredrik von Baumgarten were the advisers to EQT on its €250 million public offer for Academedia, the biggest private educational company in Sweden. It was a testing process for the firm as the bid was highly competitive against Providence Equity Partners.

The bidding process also involved the country's other top firms Linklaters, Vinge and Gernandt & Danielsson.

In another public deal, Lindström and Björn Kristianson advised the board of NetOnNet on a public tender offer by Waldir, which prompted an initially mixed response by the target company before morphing into a more straight forward takeover in March 2011.

Christoffer Saidac and Ebba Werkell helped Investment AB Öresund divest its stake from the collapsed HQ Bank, which involved a substantial amount of capital markets advice as well.

Ashurst has a good reputation in the market for corporate. The firm very much holds its own if it is not overtly on the ascendency, and in 2010 it received a boost with the lateral hire of former Linklaters partner Martin Börresen. Clients especially like the firm and in many respects it punches alongside the top rung in terms of quality.

Lindahl was tipped last year as a firm with potential and deep resources and it is undoubtedly on the way up. The biggest trick up its sleeve is its expertise in life sciences and IP, which it gained through a merger with leading IP firm RydinCarlsten in 2009 and which is especially attractive to specific industry sectors for example pharmaceutical companies.

On pharmaceutical client that shifted its business from one of the top firms says Lindahl was "excellent, responsive, attentive, detail oriented but not pedantic and knowledgeable on local practices". Clients were also enthusiastic about partner Malcolm Wiberg.

For 2010 the firm performed well in Mergermarket tables in deal volume (coming third in Sweden) and in 2011 it cashed in on the trend of a lifting market. The firm was elected as an advisor to the government and in May 2010 it recruited partner Peter Högström from Linklaters to manage the department. The recruitment in January 2010 of Annika Andersson, a public M&A lawyer, from Mannheimer Swartling also underscores the firm's intentions.

In its deals the firm displays range and versatility. In one deal, which with its mix of M&A, shipping and capital markets expertise shows off the firm's full service capabilities, Erik Linnarsson, Andersson and Peter Bäverlid advised Rederi Transatlantic on a €71 million acquisition from Viking Supply Ships to take-over the ice-breaking joint-venture Trans Viking. The deal was completed in October 2010.

Partner Malcolm Wiberg was also engaged on a mixed deal, which involved advising OBH Nordica Sweden on a pre-restructuring and €101 million sale to Triton. The firm sparred with opposing counsel Linklaters on the deal which closed July 2010.

Another exemplary deal closed in May 2010 saw Peter Lilja lead a team to advise Nordic wine and spirits company Altia Corporation on its €82 million acquisition of Pernod Ricard's wine and spirits operation along with an agreement for long term collaboration between the two companies. Indicating again the level service Lindahl was head to head with Gernandt & Danielsson.

Setterwalls is a good bet in all walks of M&A and has lately been winning smart mandates in private equity and private M&A, most notably in industry and high-tech. It is certainly one of the firms to have benefitted from the brief pick-up in the market in the first half of 2011.

The firm's Gothenburg office especially won a good share of local private M&A. In one such deal, the firm's head of M&A in Gothenburg Anders Holmgren advised Quadracom in January 2011 in its acquisition of all shares in Swedish broadband company Zitius to become the country's largest fiber-based broadband operator.

In another, Dag Fredlund led a team to act for SKF Sverige on the sale of its cage production in Gothenburg to Japonese manufacturer Nakanishi Metal Works.

Out of Stockholm, Anders Söderlind worked with French firm Brandford-Griffith & Associés to advise Arjowiggins on the sale of its subsidiaries Arjowiggins Deutschland and Arjowiggins Arches to Munksjö for €95 million. This deal was closed in March 2011.

One of the firm's highest profile deals however (high profile for the being in the high-tech software sector) came at the close of 2010. Jonas Frii and Marcus Winqvist advised The Astonishing Tribe (TAT) on an agreement with Research in Motion (RIM) which will allow both companies to expand and tackle the market for the PlayBook tablet and in BlackBerry smart phones.

Törngren Magnell enters the rankings for the first time this year. The firm is in the process of developing a strong brand name; privately it has earned a good reputation from market players while outwardly the firm has shown signs of growth and of regular instructions.

Indeed, in 2010/2011 the firm hired partner Martin Rosell from Cederquist and a group of five associates. The firm also attained a thirteenth rank in Mergermarket tables in terms of Swedish M&A deal volume in 2010 and bettered that in the first quarter of 2011 with a seventh position.

"They are one of our two firms for M&A," says a client who also instructs Gernandt & Danielsson. The client recommends Niclas Högström and Sten Hedbäck for being "professional and responsive [and] constructive in helping you find ways to get the deal done, rather than just theoretically competent".

According client loved the service: "It is quite a small firm and we get better attention than if you go to the bigger firms [and] and there is no difference in practice to the big firms".

Looking at its most notable recent deals, the firm neatly closed a series of mid-sized deals from different sectors involving varied parties. Högström led a team to advise LRF Media AB, a subsidiary of the Federation of Swedish Farmers, on its acquisition of Svenska Historiska Media Tidskrifter; a relatively straight forward deal which closed in November 2010 for an undisclosed amount.

Another deal saw Högström lead a team working for Innova Capital alongside global counsel Allen & Overy. The firm worked on Innova's acquisition of Marmite International for a confidential sum and helped bring its first acquisition in Sweden to a successful close in November 2010.

A third example of work saw Hedbäck act for Norlandia Care on the sale of its Personlig Assistans business to Frösunda, which was represented by Cederquist. The deal successfully closed in October 2010.

Lastly, Hedbäck led a team to represent Ekström Management & Investment on an €11 million sale of Konftel to Avaya Inc, closed in January 2011. The firm faced counsel Mannheimer Swartling during the sale process.

Wistrand has a good reputation for M&A among clients and gets the nod from counsel in firms in Norway and Finland.

It markets itself as historically strong in media, technology, IT, telecom, science, transport and manufacturing businesses and backed up its bark in 2010-11 with a string on deals in real estate, IT, medical technology and telecoms.

According to one client of an acquisition in Sweden, Lars Hesp "is a good guy and a great contact with a talented team around him": "He is someone who understands you, understands the business you are in can see things for you and fight for you... he is so very experienced and knows how to handle himself, be creative and think outside the box and business minded".

In one deal, partner Per Dalemo led to a team to advise Choice Hotels in April 2011 on the sale of its entire Danish operations to First Hotel, which was represented by top tier Norwegian firm Wikborg Rein & Co.

Senior partner Lars Hasp acted for Atea Sverige in August 2010 at the head of a large advisory team to help the Nordic IT infrastructure provider acquire all the shares in Portalab Datortillbehör as part of a broad expansion strategy. Hasp and Magnus Forssman also led a team representing the world's largest mobile transaction network mBlox in its acquisition of Mashmobile in October 2010.

In February 2011, the firm closed a deal for Medtronic Inc in which the medical technology company purchased all shares in Jolife, a company that manufactures the LUCAS chest compression system for cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Baker & McKenzie handles private M&A and private equity deals from its Sweden office often in partnership with one or more of its offices in other jurisdictions, making it a good bet for any type of cross-border M&A.

In Sweden, Carl Svernlöv, Anders Fast and Sten Bauer are the primary standard bearers for corporate matters. "Here it is all about Svernlöv, a very good Baker lawyer... the main corporate lawyer and he also does lots of academic work" says a peer.

The firm has some impressive clients on its books. In August 2010 Fast led a Swedish team working with offices in London, Germany and Japan to advise listed investment company Ratos on the sale of outdoors manufacturer Haglöfs to Asics for €110 million. The sale was successful as it made Ratos a good profit considering the volatile circumstances.

Svernlöv led on two notable deals, in one acting for Richardson Electronics on a $210 million disposition and post-acquisition integration of its RF, Wireless and Power Division to Arrow Electronics. The deal was ongoing in mid-2011 but is a good example of cross border international M&A work. In the other, he led a team to represent Kraft Foods on the Swedish aspects of the post-acquisition integration of its European business operations following the acquisition of Cadbury for $19 billion.

The firm benefitted from windows in the private equity market to close deals, and in one example in December 2010 Fast and Bauer acted for Ratos on its €60 million acquisition of on-line auction site KVD Kvarndammen from Sixth AP Fund and founders.

With the changes in the market - Linklaters' downsizing and the movement created by the arrivals and hiring sprees of Finnish brands Hannes Snellman and Roschier - Delphi offers a reliable and consistently growing practice which has taken advantage of the movement to grab market share.

One example is that the firm's M&A department grew in 2010-11 with the hire of five associates, among them senior associate Fredrik Mörner, who primarily specialises in public M&A, from Gernandt & Danielsson. The firm has also capitalised on strengths in the TMT and life sciences sectors, thanks to its strong IP department.

Among its exemplary deals, head of private equity David Aversten advised SunGard acquisition of Mindwell for an undisclosed amount in October 2010, a deal which involved assets in a four northern European countries.

Aversten and the other most lauded corporate partner at the firm Per Berglöf, worked alongside Jones Day to advise Sherwin Williams on its acquisition of Becker Acroma through its newly established Swedish subsidiary Sherwin Williams Sweden Holdings. The firm led on all the Swedish aspects, conducted due diligence and drafted the transaction documents. The deal was closed in 2010 for an undisclosed amount.

Another example saw Berglöf lead a team to advise Agco Corporation on its €61 million acquisition of Sparex in November 2010.

Gärde Wesslau, a 65 lawyer firm operating out of six offices in Sweden, is poised for growth in its M&A department.

In November 2010 Anneli Lönnborg joined the department as an associate. In January 2011 the firm then hired partner Henrik Karlström from a rival law firm, ostensibly to replace partner Jürgen Conzen who left in December 2010, and in June 2011 the firm recruited a senior associate in Robert Moldén from the Swedish Competition Authority.

The firm occupies the mid-market in Sweden. In June 2010 its leading lawyer Staffan Olsson led a team to close a deal for Investment Spiltan. Despite the difficult economic environment Investment Spiltar acquired internet gaming company Paradox Interactive for an undisclosed amount.

Olsson led another team to advise TransportIT Group on its acquisition of acquisition of Taxi Direkt in October 2010. The deal is interesting as it highlights a trend in Sweden of a growing transport sector.

Kilpatrick has a strong real estate practice and since 2008 with the hire of partner Sören Druve from Linklaters, it has been expanding into other areas of M&A.

The firm has a large contingent of former Linklaters lawyers and as well as Druve it counts on partner Erik Nerpin, who is well-established in the oil and gas sectors, and partner Robert Lakatos, who joined in 2009 after working at Roschier and Linklaters. A more recent hire saw partner Olle Jansson, who had headed Cederquist's M&A department from 2000-07, join the team.

With such a team it is safe to say that the firm has some strong and well-seasoned individuals and has begun development a brand name in the country.

In terms of deals, in March 2011 Druve led a team to advise Tengbomgruppen Intressenter set up a joint-venture architect firm called Tengbomgruppen with partner Sobro. Druve led another team representing Elfa International on its acquisition of Norwegian sales company Lumi Norge. The deal was completed in February 2011.

In another example of recent M&A work, Druve headed a team to act for Cargotec Sweden on its acquisition of two service companies in Sweden, completed in November 2010, while Erik Nerpin advised Lundin Mining on the Swedish law aspects of a proposed merger with Inmet Mining Corporation.

The latter deal to form a new company called Symterra Mining Corporation with a dual listing in Toronto and Stockholm was abandoned in 2011.

Magnusson's main partner is the very active Anders Bäckman. Jonas Bergquist has also provided a solid flow of mandates into the firm from clients such as the Recycling, Parks & Resorts Scandinavia and the Swedish Energy Agency, and in March 2011 the M&A team grew with the hire of senior associate Linnea Back from Setterwalls, who joins as a partner.

In terms of deals, May 2010 saw Bäckman and team advise Unibet Group on a strategic investment into the US market through an acquisition of a 25.9 % stake in NASDAQ listed company Bingo.com. The deal was completed through a directed private placement and is a good example of cross-border capability.

Bäckman also led a team to advise the global airline catering business LSG Sky Chefs on its acquisition of the catering business at Skavsta Airport from Catering Please. The deal was successfully completed in January 2011 for an undisclosed amount.

Söderberg & Partners, the insurance and fund broker, proved a good source of repeat work to the firm, instructing Bäckman on the acquisition of the institutional capital management and fund management business from Catella in January 2011 and the acquisition of a 51% stake in Personlig Portföljanalys i Sverige from DnB NOR / Salus Ansvar in March 2011.

Although the value of the latter deals was confidential both of them required authorisation by the Swedish Competition Authority.