Private Equity (De)Listings in Scandinavia : A descriptive and empirical study of private equity and venture capital firms listing and delisting activity in Scandinavia
Abstract
Shrinking stock markets are a phenomenon witnessed across the world. Given stock markets
importance to the economy, this trend is worrying. A number of studies have identified private
equity as a catalyst for these shrinking markets. We ask how this plays out in Scandinavia. To
date, the influence of private equity on the Scandinavian stock markets is unexplored. Hence,
this thesis offers two contributions. First, we map out private equity’s net contribution to
listings and delistings on the Scandinavian stock exchanges. We rule out that private equity is
contributing to a shrinking stock market. Second, we investigate how fundraising drives private
equity-backed listings and delistings in Scandinavia. Our results indicate that higher
fundraising is associated with increased private equity-backed stock listings three years after
the fundraising. Further, our results suggest that higher fundraising is associated with increased
private equity-backed public-to-private delistings one year later.