Valentin Golovanov

Partner, Member of the Finnish Bar

Services

  1. Private M&A
  2. Private Equity

Contact details

I specialise in mergers and acquisitions, private equity, and transactional corporate advisory matters. I have extensive experience in advising both Finnish and international industrial companies, as well as private equity sponsors, and I excel in handling complex, large-scale domestic and cross-border transactions, including industrial carve-outs, strategic investments, and buyouts.

During my career, I have been involved in several landmark transactions, and I have acquired in-depth experience and knowledge across various industry sectors and particularly in forestry, telecommunications, technology, and infrastructure sectors.

Prior to joining Castrén & Snellman, I worked for over 12 years at other leading law firms in the Nordics, where I built a robust skillset for transactional work focused on client-centricity and first-class project management.

My previous experience includes advising:

• Corten Capital in its acquisition of Roima Intelligence from Intera and other shareholders

• Aava Terveyspalvelut in the sale of Docrates Cancer Center to Mehiläinen

• Klett Lernen und Information in its acquisition of Studeo

• Axcel in the sale of the Aidian to Nordstjernan

• Telia in the sale of part of its towers business in Finland, Norway and Sweden to Brookfield

• Wolt in the sale of the company to DoorDash

• First Sentier Investors in the sale its interest in Caruna to Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board and KKR

• Neles in connection with Alfa Laval’s public cash tender offer

• Posti in the sale of OpusCapita to Providence Equity Partners

• Investor consortium led by ANTA in the public takeover of Amer Sports

• First Sentier Investors in the sale of Digita to Digital Colony

• CapMan Buyout in the sale of Walki to One Equity Partners and

• Microsoft in its acquisition of Nokia’s Devices and Services business.

Latest references

G&W Electric – Acquisition of Safegrid
We advised G&W Electric with its acquisition of Safegrid Oy, a leading provider of intelligent grid monitoring solutions based in Finland. The acquisition accelerates G&W Electric’s long-term strategy to integrate intelligent monitoring and predictive analytics into its power distribution portfolio, strengthening its offering to utility customers worldwide. Founded in 1905 and headquartered in Bolingbrook, Illinois, G&W Electric is a global leader in innovative power grid solutions, with a presence in over 100 countries. The company is known for advanced load and fault interrupting switches, reclosers, sensors, system protection equipment, power grid automation, intelligent grid monitoring, and transmission and distribution cable accessories. Safegrid is a Finnish technology company headquartered in Espoo, Finland. The company develops the Intelligent Grid System®, a grid monitoring solution that combines instant-on wireless sensors with advanced analytics to deliver real-time insight into grid conditions, enabling utilities to identify emerging issues, anticipate failures, and reduce outage duration across medium and high voltage distribution and transmission networks.
Case published 8.5.2026
Kiwa – Acquisition of Sertio
We advised Kiwa in its acquisition of Sertio Oy, a Finnish notified body designated by the authority in accordance with the EU Regulation on in vitro diagnostic medical devices (IVDR). Sertio provides conformity assessment services in accordance with IVDR. Kiwa is one of the world’s leading testing, inspection, and certification companies, operating in over 35 countries. 
Case published 7.5.2026
Jensen-Group – Acquisition of Vestek
We advised Jensen-Group with its acquisition of Oy Vestek Ab, the long-standing distributor of Jensen solutions in Finland. The strategic step underlines Jensen-Group’s long-term commitment to the Nordic region and its ambition to further expand sustainable and future-oriented laundry automation solutions in Finland. Jensen-Group, listed on Euronext Brussels, is a global leader in heavy‑duty laundry technology, known for designing and manufacturing industrial laundry machines, systems, and turnkey automation solutions. Oy Vestek Ab is a Finnish import company founded in 1961. The company’s main activity is to import supplies and machinery, including providing products and services for the health care and laundry industries, from Europe and the USA and to act as a wholesale dealer on the Finnish market.
Case published 16.3.2026
ParkMan – Investment by Hawk Infinity and Armada Credit Partners
We advised the shareholders of ParkMan Oy in the arrangement whereby Norwegian investment company Hawk Infinity and Armada Credit Partners invested in ParkMan enabling ParkMan’s accelerated growth. ParkMan is a parking solutions and management software company that provides a digital parking application for consumers and businesses operating in Finland, Denmark, Lithuania, and Estonia. ParkMan is based in Helsinki, Finland. Hawk Infinity, based in Oslo, Norway, is one of the largest and fastest growing Nordic software compounders with a long-term, growth-oriented investment approach. Hawk Infinity focuses on investing in founder-led companies and scaling them through add-on acquisitions and organic growth, while preserving existing management and culture. Since its establishment in 2008, Hawk Infinity has grown into a multi-vertical SaaS group by acquiring and scaling niche software businesses across Europe.
Case published 27.8.2025
Korona Invest – Sale of Innoflame
We advise Korona Invest and the other shareholders of Innoflame Oy on the sale of Innoflame to Sponsor Capital. The transaction makes Sponsor Capital the new majority owner of Innoflame. Korona Invest has been a shareholder of Innoflame since 2021 and, together with the other selling shareholders, has over the past five years supported the company’s growth, development and several strategically significant corporate transactions, through which Innoflame has strengthened its position as Finland’s leading product media company. The ownership change is intended to support Innoflame’s next phase of growth, including its ambition to build a significant European product media company with the capability to expand rapidly into new markets. The transaction is conditional to the customary closing conditions such as authority approvals. Innoflame is one of Finland’s leading product media specialists, helping its clients build a unified brand experience by offering the design, sourcing and management of product media as a single integrated service. Korona Invest is a Finnish private equity firm founded in 2006, specialising in buyout and growth investments in domestic small and medium-sized enterprises. It makes both majority and minority investments, structuring each project to suit the company’s growth strategy. 
Case published 27.8.2026
Marina Group – Acquisition of Iisiveneily and Porvoon Venekorjaamo
We advised Hopeasalmen Telakka Oy, part of Marina Group, on the acquisitions of Iisiveneily and Porvoon Venekorjaamo. The transactions form part of Marina Group’s expansion into the Finnish marina and boatyard sector, strengthening its position under the Quattro Marine brand. Following the acquisitions, Quattro Marine’s Finnish operations comprise Hopeasalmen Telakka, which operates boatyard facilities in Helsinki’s Mustikkamaa and in Tolkkinen, Porvoo, together with Iisiveneily and Porvoon Venekorjaamo. Marina Group is a Norwegian marina and boatyard consortium owned by the private equity sponsor Norvestor. It has grown rapidly through acquisitions to become the Nordic region’s largest boating services provider, having acquired 24 marinas and boatyards across Norway, Sweden and Finland within roughly a year.
Case published 24.8.2026
Neste – A EUR 250 million 10-year loan with NIB
We advised Neste as it signed a EUR 250 million 10-year loan with NIB. The loan will finance Neste’s investments related to research and development (R&D) in processing lower-quality feedstocks into high-quality renewable products; as well as the liquefied waste plastics (LWP) investment at Neste’s refinery in Porvoo, Finland. The R&D activities supported by the loan focus on the development of renewable solutions. These include, for example, expanding feedstock capabilities and technologies that enable the processing of new and lower-quality waste and residues into high-quality renewable end products. Part of the financing supports Neste’s liquefied waste plastics investment in Porvoo, related to upgrading low-quality plastic waste into high-quality feedstock at an industrial scale. The investment contributes to advancing circular economy solutions by enabling the use of hard-to-recycle plastic waste as a replacement for virgin fossil raw materials. The unit has an annual capacity to process up to 150,000 tonnes of liquefied waste plastic. Production ramp-up commenced in 2026.
Case published 19.8.2026
Aspo – Demerger and finance matters
We advised Aspo Plc, ESL Shipping Ltd and AtoBatC Shipping AB in relation to finance matters in connection with the demerger of Aspo, by which all the shares in ESL Shipping Ltd held by Aspo, together with the related assets and liabilities, will be transferred to a new independent company to be named ESL Shipping Group Plc. Aspo intends to apply for the shares of ESL Shipping Group to be admitted to trading on the regulated market of Nasdaq Helsinki. It is further intended that Aspo be renamed Telko Group Plc. 
Case published 19.8.2026

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