Industry statistics
A total of NOK 18.8 bn. was invested by Norwegian PE firms in 2022, a 1 percent decrease from 2021. NOK 10.6 bn. was invested in Norwegian companies, 40 percent more than in 2021. This is the highest amount invested in Norwegian companies since the tracking of the market started in 2007. Investments in foreign companies was lower than the previous year with NOK 8.1 bn. invested, a fall of 28 percent.
Norwegian PE funds made 264 investments in 2022, 8 percent fewer than in 2021. 46 investments were recorded in foreign companies in 2022, a decrease of almost 40 percent form 2021. The number of investments in Norwegian companies was 218 in 2022, up from 212 in 2021.
The amount invested in the buyout phase was at a record high of NOK 17.1 bn., 13 percent higher than in 2021. This growth comes from fewer, larger investments in the buyout phase, as the number of investments in this stage fell from 62 in 2021 to 47 in 2022. Most investments in the buyout phase were follow-up investments.
Investments in both the venture and seed phases fell from 2021, by 65 percent and 1 percent respectively. The number of investments decreased in the venture phase while increasing in the seed phase.
Among Norwegian PE firms the IT sector attracted the most capital of all sectors, nearly NOK 6.9 bn. Much of this through three large investments. The majority of the capital was invested in companies in the buyout phase. 121 investments were made by Norwegian PE firms in the IT sector, almost four times higher than any other sector. 51 of these investments were made in companies in the venture phase, and 57 in the seed phase.
Cleantech attracted NOK 3.1 bn, growing by over 250 percent from 2021. This leap is a continuation of an already high level of growth in investments made in the sector. Retail and consumer services and products attracted almost as much capital as cleantech, at over NOK 3 bn. over 15 different investments.
Life science companies attracted 32 investments, making it the sector with the second highest number of investments by Norwegian PE firms, both in total, and in the seed and venture phases. Only two of these investments were made in companies in the buyout phase.
Exit activity in Norwegian PE firms slowed down further in 2022, with 27 exits in Norwegian PE firms, down from 31 in 2021. Only three exits were made in the seed phase in 2022, down from 11 in 2021. The number of venture divestments in Norwegian PE firms doubled from 2021 to 2022.
The value of exits in 2022 was NOK 3.4 bn, 16 percent lower than in 2021.
Figure 11: Number of divestments in Norwegian and foreign enterprises by phase. Source: Menon Economics