European Corporate Insights - M&A Opportunities in the Energy Sector

Jonas Forsman and Anton Westin have written the Swedish contribution to Andersen’s article European Corporate Insights – M&A Opportunities in the Energy Sector.

The energy sector has been one of the main players in the field of M&A in recent years due to the growing interest in renewable energies, where an interest of reducing dependence on third countries has been a contributing factor. The post-pandemic economic recovery and the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war have triggered a global energy crisis with unprecedented price hikes, resulting in a year-on-year increase in electricity prices. As a result, both the EU Institutions and most European countries have taken urgent measures to ensure citizens’ access to the energy resources. In addition to public investment to promote sustainable energy, some countries are bringing back conventional sources, such as coal-fired electric power plants. This has encouraged private investors to bet again on the oil and gas sector. It is no coincidence that investment interest in fossil fuels has grown considerably in recent years.

The energy sector, despite facing a slowdown in transactions like all other sectors in 2022, remains one of the targets of private equity. Hellström Advokatbyrå has contributed to an article which provides a comprehensive analysis of 15 European countries addressing transaction trends in this sector and the regulatory and tax measures adopted by each country to deal with the crisis. The article offers a comprehensive benchmarking analysis of the energy sector in Europe and new trends for investments.  In addition, the article also includes the most recent regulatory developments in Europe to be considered by the private equity players in their investments in the near future.