22.12.2021

Aktia Bank and Alexander Corporate Finance – Ownership Arrangement

We advised Aktia Bank Plc and Alexander Corporate Finance Oy (ACF) in an arrangement that will result in Aktia owning 20% of ACF’s shares. The share subscription is scheduled to take place in January 2022 and is conditional on the approval of the Financial Supervisory Authority. Following the arrangement, the new name of Alexander Corporate Finance will be Aktia Alexander Corporate Finance Oy.

Aktia is a Finnish asset manager, bank and life insurer that has been creating wealth and wellbeing from one generation to the next for 200 years. We serve our customers in digital channels everywhere and face-to-face in our offices in the Helsinki, Turku, Tampere, Vaasa and Oulu regions. Our award-winning asset management business sells investment funds internationally. Aktia employs approximately 900 people around Finland. Aktia’s assets under management (AuM) on 30 June 2021 amounted to EUR 15.6 billion, and the balance sheet total was EUR 11.2 billion. Aktia’s shares are listed on Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd (AKTIA).

Alexander Corporate Finance Oy (ACF) is a Finnish investment bank established in 1988. The Alexander Group companies offer consulting services to owners and companies related to valuation, mergers and acquisitions, and capital market transactions.

Latest references

We represented Vapaus Bikes Finland Oy, a company offering employee benefit bikes, in its international EUR 10 million Series A funding round. The investors behind the funding are private equity investors Shift4Good and Superhero Capital Ltd as well as Tesi together with the European Guarantee Fund of the European Investment Bank. The equity-based funding will support the company’s international expansion, software development, platform automation, and the growth of its concept for the second-hand market of bikes. Vapaus Bikes Finland is at the forefront of sustainable mobility services and has been a pioneer in the Employee Benefit Bikes sector since late 2020. It has been ranked among Finland’s fastest growing companies. Shift4Good is an impact venture capital fund focused on the decarbonisation of the transportation sector. Tesi (officially Finnish Industry Investment Ltd) is a state-owned, market-driven investment company that invests in venture capital and private equity funds and directly in Finnish startups and growth companies.
Case published 21.8.2024
We advised Tesi (Finnish Industry Investment Ltd) in its investment in the heavy duty vehicles company Oy Sisu Auto Ab. With this investment, Tesi became an owner in the company with a share of 24.4 per cent. Sisu Auto is a pioneer in the Nordic market in the development of heavy duty vehicles. Sisu’s core competences are in the product development and production of trucks and military vehicles. Tesi is a state-owned, market-driven investment company that invests in venture capital and private equity funds and directly in Finnish startups and growth companies. The investments managed by Tesi total 2.1 billion euros.
Case published 19.8.2024
We advised Bionto Oy, a company offering industrial bio-solutions, in a financing arrangement where Korpi Capital made a EUR 4 million seed equity investment in the company. The execution of the investment requires that certain conditions specified in the investment documentation are met. Bionto is a Finnish early-stage biotechnology company that develops and produces sustainable, profitable and safe biotechnological solutions to support the green transition, business objectives and societal goals of various industrial operators.
Case published 8.7.2024
We acted as the Finnish legal advisor for BHP in connection with an exploration alliance agreement entered into between BHP and Kingsrose Mining Limited under which BHP (through a wholly owned subsidiary) will provide funding for regional mineral exploration across areas of interest in Finland. As part of the arrangement announced on 22 May 2024, BHP and Kingsrose entered into two exploration alliance agreements, focusing on nickel and copper exploration in specified regions in Finland and Norway. In Finland, the alliance agreement covers Kingsrose’s four exploration reservations at the Central Finland project in the Kotalahti Nickel Belt, a 400 kilometre long greenstone belt which hosts the past producing Hitura, Kotalahti and Enonkoski nickel mines. The alliances follow from Kingsrose’s successful participation in the BHP Xplor program, a global accelerator program targeting innovative, early-stage mineral exploration companies to find the critical resources necessary to drive the energy transition. BHP is the largest mining company in the world by market capitalisation, producing essential commodities through its assets, including iron ore, metallurgical coal, copper and nickel, and moving into potash.
Case published 4.7.2024