Sirpa Hartikainen

Financial Specialist

As a financial specialist, I provide service to our financial team`s external and internal clients confidentially, accurately and considerately. On a daily basis, I am in contact, not only with our own employees, but also with our suppliers and clients relating to expense and invoicing matters. It is a great pleasure to regularly meet different people through my work, some of them in person and some of them digitally. I hope that those who I interact with also enjoy our meetings.

Our financial team, consisting of six persons, is responsible for the entire financial administration of Castrén & Snellman. My own responsibility area includes handling purchase, expense and travel invoices as well as invoicing. In addition to my daily routine work, I also handle urgent and sometimes surprising duties. In such cases, the rest of the financial team is a great help to me. I can trust in the support and competence of our team.

The reason I applied for this job at Castrén & Snellman in the spring of 2014 was the firm`s values: I also believe in these same values and I can identify with them. It is great to be part of the `Castrén Spirit`, to be another new link in the long chain of our firm`s history, to meet wonderful and friendly people, and to work together for our clients.

I graduated in 2007 with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree and in 2020 with a Bachelor of Business Information Technology degree. Before my current job, I worked in the financial administration at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd, SOK Palveluässä as well as at Helin & Co Architects. I also have work experience in customer service and in industry.

Latest references

We are acting as legal advisor to Piippo Plc in the sale of their bale netwrap and baler twine machines, related assets, and trademarks used in Piippo’s business to Portuguese Cotesi S.A. The sale of assets will be carried out in two phases and the final completion of the transaction is expected to occur during the first quarter of 2026. Piippo Oyj’s core business is baling nets and twine and it is one of the leading suppliers in the industry globally. The company’s global distribution network covers more than 40 countries. The company’s shares are listed on the First North Growth Market Finland operated by Nasdaq Helsinki Oy. Founded in 1967, Cotesi is one of the world’s leading producers of synthetic and natural twines, nets and ropes, with operations in Europe, North America and South America and its main production plant in Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal.
Case published 17.4.2025
We acted as Finnish legal adviser to KKR in connection with its acquisition of the entire share capital of Karo Healthcare from EQT. The transaction follows Karo’s significant strategic transformation from a Nordic specialty pharma business into a leading pan-European consumer healthcare platform, with an attractive product portfolio spanning core categories such as Skin Health, Foot Health, and Intimate Health, as well as Digestive Health and Vitamins, Minerals & Supplements. KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE: KKR), is a leading global investment firm that offers alternative asset management as well as capital markets and insurance solutions. KKR sponsors investment funds that invest in private equity, credit and real assets and has strategic partners that manage hedge funds.  Completion of the transaction is subject to customary conditions and regulatory approvals. The transaction is expected to close in the coming months.
Case published 17.4.2025
We advised the Savings Banks Group on an arrangement whereby the shares in Sp-Henkivakuutus Oy were sold to Henki-Fennia and at the same time the parties agreed on a long-term distribution cooperation for insurance savings and loan protection products. The closing of the transaction remains subject to regulatory approvals. Sb Life Insurance is a domestic life insurance company, established in 2007, offering insurance savings and risk insurance products to private customers and companies. The Savings Banks and Oma Säästöpankki Oyj act as agents for Sp-Life Insurance. Henki-Fennia is a subsidiary of Keskinäinen Vakuutusyhtiö Fennia, specialising in voluntary life, pension and savings insurance.
Case published 11.4.2025
We advised Readpeak in an arrangement where Finnish growth fund Voland Partners made an investment in Readpeak. Readpeak is a service platform specialising in native advertising for purchasing, designing, and targeting the distribution of advertising space. Readpeak has quickly risen to a leading position with its platform solution, which enables an easy way to target and schedule communications as part of the news feed on media sites. Readpeak is a company founded in Helsinki in 2014, which has since expanded to nine European market areas and collaborates with over a thousand publishers. Readpeak redefines content-driven advertising using advanced machine learning models, creating added value for both quality media and journalism. Voland Partners is a minority investor specialising in the development of technology companies, with a mission to work together with entrepreneurs to build successful companies responsibly, creating success stories that benefit the entire society. Readpeak is Voland Partners’ sixth investment target, into which the fund company is investing from its first growth fund of 57 million euros.
Case published 10.4.2025
We advised Nokian Brewery Plc in its listing on Nasdaq First North Growth Market Finland. Investor demand in the IPO, which consisted of a public and institutional offering, was very strong and the IPO was oversubscribed. Nokian Brewery raised gross proceeds of approximately EUR 10 million from the IPO. In the IPO subscriptions were received from more than 2,900 investors and as a result of IPO the number of shareholders in the company increased to more than 4,700 shareholders. The IPO gives us a strong platform for the next years of growth. We are grateful to investors for their confidence and excited about what we can achieve together. This is the beginning of a new chapter in the Nokian Brewery story.  – Janne Paavola, CEO Trading in Nokian Brewery’s shares began on First North on 3 April 2025 with trading symbol BEER. Nokian Brewery is Finland’s second largest microbrewery and fifth largest brewery in terms of turnover in 2023. Nokian Brewery is particularly known for its Keisari beers. Nokian Panimo manufactures all its products at its production facility in Nokia, and in 2024 its sales volume totalled more than 8.3 million litres and turnover was EUR 11.9 million. Domesticity, responsibility and sustainable practices are at the heart of Nokian Brewery.
Case published 3.4.2025
We advised Fingrid Oyj on the Finnish law aspects of the update of an EMTN programme and increase to EUR 3 billion. Notes issued under the programme may be admitted to trading on Euronext Dublin. Fingrid Oyj is Finland’s transmission system operator.
Case published 2.4.2025
We advised Huhtamäki on the EU sustainability legislation and its impacts on Huhtamäki’s ESG strategy.  Our team focused on compliance with the ESG regulation and the actions required to further Huhtamäki’s ESG targets.
Case published 1.4.2025
We represented Ugly Duckling Ventures in the EUR 1.5 million pre-seed funding round of Clock & Cloud, with a EUR 0.2 million tail-end reserved for a potential strategic investor. The funding will support the product development and commercial expansion of Clock & Cloud. Ugly Duckling Ventures led the funding round, with participation from the company’s existing investor Icebreaker.vc. Ugly Duckling Ventures is a venture capital fund based in Copenhagen, Denmark, that focuses on seed and pre-seed stage investments in Nordic ventures. Clock & Cloud is a Finnish software company founded by a diverse team with backgrounds in geopolitical intelligence, military strategy, business development, and software engineering. Their AI-powered geopolitical intelligence platform helps enterprises make sense of global complexity by turning real-time geopolitical events into actionable business intelligence.
Case published 28.3.2025