The Legal 500

With 45 fee-earners at its disposal, the ‘outstanding’ Advokatfirmaet BA-HR DA can handle a tremendous volume of significant domestic and cross-border deals. The ‘solution-oriented’ Svein Gerhard Simonnæs, who regularly handles deals within the technology and telecoms industries, recently advised EQT on its acquisition of domestic telecoms operator Ventelo. The ‘pragmatic’ Lars Norheim is recommended for retail and media sector M&A, and Peter Hammerich combines transactional and regulatory expertise to provide an ‘excellent’ service to private equity clients – both on the fund formation and investment side. Clients of the practice include CVC, Arctic Securities and Pacific Drilling.

Advokatfirmaet Thommessen AS’ ‘extremely knowledgeable, experienced and solution-focused’ Anders Arnkværn is ‘one of the best lawyers in Norway for large M&A and capital markets transactions’. Kim Dobrowen, arguably ‘the best lawyer in town’, advised Statoil Fuel & Retail on its NOK15.9bn public takeover by Alimentation Couche-Tard. Rune Solberg has ‘substantial experience in energy-related M&A’. Other clients include Norsk Hydro, Telenor and Orkla.

Wiersholm remains busy with private equity mandates, acting for clients such as Altor, Herkules and Nordic Capital. The team recently advised Nordic Capital on its €600m sale of Point International to VeriFone Systems. On the public M&A side, the ‘excellent’ Erik Thyness advised Statoil on the sale of its retail division to Alimentation Couche-Tard. The ‘very responsive’ Sverre Sandvik is ‘a quiet, unassuming guy but has an excellent legal brain and a good ability to read the situation’. Harald Hellebust and Jarle Kvam have ‘good legal strength combined with a clear business understanding and client focus’.

Advokatfirmaet Schjødt AS provides ‘commercial and practical’ advice on M&A and day-to-day corporate and commercial work. The team is very well regarded in the private equity space and recently advised Bain Capital on all domestic aspects of its acquisition of Bravida. Viggo Bang-Hansen is ‘very committed to finding solutions’, and the very experienced Erling Christiansen is viewed by clients as ‘a real business partner’. Einar Caspersen and team head Knut Smith-Erichsen are also recommended. Robert Romansky recently joined from Kvale Advokatfirma Da.

Selmer provides ‘excellent’ service to corporates and private equity sponsors involved in domestic and cross-border transactions. Robert Sveen and Ingar Solheim’s arrival from Advokatfirmaet Steenstrup Stordrange DA has strengthened the group’s corporate offering, particularly in private equity, where the two recently advised Nordic Capital on its acquisition of Europris. Sverre Tysland is ‘professional and easy to work with’, the ‘pleasant and hardworking’ Marius Juul Møller heads the team, and Are Herrem and Thomas Michelet are also key figures.

Ketil Bøe heads Wikborg Rein’s 20-partner practice, which adopts a ‘very service-minded’ approach to advising companies on domestic and cross-border M&A, often within the shipping, oil and gas, and offshore sectors. The team recently represented Transocean during its $2.2bn acquisition of Aker Drilling and advised Seajacks International on its $850m sale to Marubeni Corporation and INJC. Arne Didrik Kjørnæs, Marius Gisvold and Susanne Munch Thore are recommended. Public M&A specialist Dag Erik Rasmussen joined from Selmer.

Boutique firm Advokatfirmaet CLP DA fields ‘a young and hungry team that always delivers’, and has made rapid progress since being established in 2007. The team acts on M&A and investment matters, and has ‘superb private equity expertise’. The ‘outstanding’ Lars Gunnar Aas has ‘solid corporate and capital markets expertise’, and ‘grasps issues very quickly’. He recently advised Credo Partners on its acquisition of a manufacturer. Edvard Cock is ‘highly responsive’ and Fred Andersen is ‘excellent to deal with’.

Advokatfirmaet Haavind AS’ six-partner practice provides ‘responsive and business-oriented’ advice to clients such as FSN Capital Partners, Atea and ISS. The team is traditionally known for mid-market deals, but its representation of Alimentation Couche-Tard on its $2.4bn public takeover of Statoil Fuel & Retail shows its ability to act on larger deals. Headed by the ‘personable and enthusiastic’ Kjetil Hardeng, the team also includes the ‘friendly and accommodating’ Bjørn Olav Torpp and private equity expert Preben Brecke.

M&A boutique Aabø-Evensen & Co Advokatfirma gives ‘responsive and accurate advice’ to corporates and private equity firms. The ‘proactive and commercial’ Ole Kristin Aabø-Evensen heads the team, which recently advised Stirling Square Capital Partners on its acquisition of SAR. Nils Olav Arseth is also recommended.

Arntzen de Besche’s ‘proactive and very commercial’ team, headed by the ‘very knowledgeable’ Per Dagslet, has been busy in the oil and gas sector recently, including advising private equity groups such as Warburg Pincus on investment opportunities in the exploration and production sector. Erlend Bakken and Geir Evenshaug led advice to Teekay on its acquisition of Sevan Marine. Other clients include Opera Software.

Simonsen VogtWiig provides ‘exceptional service’ to an impressive roster of private equity firms and blue-chip corporates, including Herkules Capital, Verdane Capital, TeliaSonera, Akzo Nobel and DuPont. The ‘responsive and knowledgeable’ Pål Brudvik advised Hybridtech Consulting on selling to Nordisk Vindkraft the majority of shares in five wind farm subsidiaries. Henning Øvrebø heads the practice.

Advokatfirmaet Steenstrup Stordrange DA provides ‘excellent advice’ to corporates and private equity firms across a number of industry sectors including IT, energy and real estate. Terje Gulbrandsen and Odd Moe advised Aller Media on its acquisition of Nova Vista Holding. The ‘responsive and knowledgeable’ Johannes Andersen heads the team, having joined from KPMG. Robert Sveen and Ingar Solheim recently joined Selmer.

‘One of the best for M&A in Stavanger’, Kluge Advokatfirma DA provides ‘solution-oriented’ advice to oil and gas clients and shows ‘in-depth industry knowledge’. The team recently advised SAR on its sale to Stirling Square Capital Partners. Thomas Abrahamsen gives ‘clear and structured advice’, Reid Fiskaa is ‘an affable negotiator’, and Christian Wille Kaisen ‘provides comfort to clients’.

Kvale Advokatfirma Da’s ‘very clever lawyers’ advise financial and industrial sector clients on private and public M&A with a focus on the domestic market. The firm has a strong reputation in the telecoms sector and has handled various deals for Tele2, including its acquisition of Network Norway. Robert Romansky’s recent departure to Advokatfirmaet Schjødt AS was a setback, but this was offset somewhat by the arrivals of Marius Andresen from DLA Piper and Susanne Schneider from Advokatfirmaet Steenstrup Stordrange DA.

Brækhus Dege Advokatfirma DA advises companies on transactional, regulatory and compliance matters. Managing partner Stein Hove has notable expertise relating to the fisheries industry and Øystein Sverre has substantial experience in M&A.

DLA Piper’s ‘very skilled’ team head Fredrik Lykke is advising Telenor on its NOK300m acquisition of LOS Bynett and Bynett Privat from Agder Energi. Marius Andresen recently joined Kvale Advokatfirma Da.

Advokatfirmaet Grette DA’s corporate transactions reflect the strengths of other practices in the firm, notably in real estate, life sciences and energy. Roland Mörsdorf advised enso hydro, an Austrian hydroelectric power company, on its acquisition of the Norwegian holding company Bekk og Strøm. Team head Jacob Bjønness-Jacobsen is recommended.

Jørn Uggerud and Rolf Trolle Andersen jointly lead Advokatfirmaet Hjort’s team, which is increasingly involved in cross-border mandates. For example, Andersen is advising Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget (SCA) on Norwegian aspects of its acquisition of Georgia-Pacific’s European paper tissues business.

Headed by Carl Garmann Clausen, Advokatfirma Ræder DA’s four-partner team handles general corporate matters and M&A for SMEs and publicly listed entities. Clients include Idex, NorgesGruppen and Securitas.

Bing Hodneland advokatselskap DA’s ‘friendly and approachable’, ‘excellent and proactive’ four-partner team advises SMEs as well as a growing roster of larger corporates. Frode Heggdal Larsen advised the owners of PM Retail on its sale to FSN Capital.

Føyen Advokatfirma DA excels at corporate and M&A advice pertaining to the TMT and real estate industries. Clients include Salto Eiendom, Backe Prosjekt and Geodata.

Advokatfirmaet Nordia has offices in Norway, Sweden and Denmark, and is able to provide a pan-Nordic service on corporate and commercial law. Bjørn Hanestad and Espen Egseth are recommended.

Advokatfirmaet Sverdrup DA’s Gunhild Buestad has ‘solid knowledge of business law combined with supreme M&A expertise’.