Nearly a third of new entrants into the list of Finland’s largest companies have a private equity background

A recent study by the Finnish Venture Capital Association (FVCA) and PwC examined the impact of private equity and venture capital on Finland's corporate landscape and the growth of Finnish companies.

Nearly a third of the companies that have risen to the list of the 500 largest companies in Finland over the last ten years have grown under the ownership of private equity and venture capital investors (PE investors). The growth rate of private equity and venture capital-backed companies significantly outpaces their peers, both in terms of revenue and the number of employees.

With a combined revenue of €54.9 billion, companies that are currently owned or have previously been owned by PE investors account for 11% of the total revenue generated by Finnish companies. These companies employ a total of 207,000 people, with an estimated 140,000 in Finland – equal to the entire Finnish ICT industry.

Portfolio companies of PE investors have grown ten times faster in terms of revenue and 56 times faster in terms of the number of employees than other companies of the same size in similar industries. On average, the revenue of PE investors’ portfolio companies has grown by 43%, and their number of employees has increased by 28% annually over five years since the initial investment, while the corresponding growth rates for peer companies are 4% and 0.5%.

Read the full Press Release.

Download the report.