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
NoHo Partners – EUR 50 million secured notes and EUR 97 million senior secured facilities agreement
We advised NoHo Partners Plc on the issuance of EUR 50 million senior secured floating rate notes. The notes have a tenor of four years and mature on 10 September 2030. The notes bear interest at a rate of three-month EURIBOR plus a margin of 4.375 per cent. per annum. The notes were allocated to a mix of domestic and international investors. We also advised NoHo Partners on the negotiation of its new senior facilities agreement. The facilities agreement comprises a EUR 60,000,000 term loan facility, a EUR 10,000,000 capex facility and a EUR 27,000,000 revolving credit facility. “We are delighted by the interest investors have shown in the company’s Notes, which reflects confidence in our strategy. The successful issuance of the Notes, together with the new loan agreement, extends the maturity profile of our financing and enables the company to continue executing its growth strategy going forward. I would like to thank all investors for their participation, as well as our partner bank for the excellent execution of the Notes issuance”, says Jarno Suominen, CEO of NoHo Partners. OP Corporate Bank plc acted as the sole lead manager and bookrunner for the issue of the notes. NoHo Partners Plc is a Finnish group established in 1996, and it specialises in restaurant services being the creative innovator of the Northern European restaurant market. The company was listed in Nasdaq Helsinki in 2013 becoming the first Finnish listed restaurant company, and it has continued to grow strongly throughout its history. NoHo Partners’ vision is to be the leading restaurant operator in Northern Europe.
Case published 4.9.2026
Topfoods – Acquisition of Delice Plus
We advised Topfoods Oy, a Triton-backed Geia Group company, on its acquisition of Oy Delice Plus Ab, a Finnish supplier of cakes and pastries. Through the acquisition, Topfoods strengthens its retail business and further reinforces its position in the cakes and pastries segment. Founded in 2008, Topfoods supplies selected food products to professional kitchens, the retail sector, and the food industry. 
Case published 4.9.2026
Deka Immobilien – Acquisition of a prime logistics property
We advised Deka Immobilien on its acquisition of a prime logistics property located at Turvalaaksonkuja 4, Vantaa, for the Deka-ImmobilienEuropa open-ended real estate fund. The property is situated within the Aviapolis logistics cluster, which is Finland’s leading logistics hub, benefiting from its location next to Helsinki Airport and its connections to the country’s main transport routes. Completed in 2022, the modern property comprises 32,947 sqm of lettable space and is fully let on a long-term basis to Barona Varastopalvelut Oy. The tenant is a Finnish 3PL provider offering warehousing and e-commerce logistics services to companies in Finland and internationally and uses the property as its central logistics hub. The property has achieved a BREEAM International New Construction rating of Excellent and an EPC rating of A, and it features photovoltaic and geothermal systems, among other things.
Case published 3.9.2026
HANZA – Divestment of its Nivala and Sievi operations
We advised HANZA on the divestment of its Nivala and Sievi operations. The transaction was part of HANZA’s larger strategic reorganisation, where the company optimised its Finnish manufacturing cluster. Founded in 2008, HANZA is a Swedish mechanical engineering and electronics contract manufacturing company listed on the Nasdaq Stockholm main list. HANZA has approximately 5,000 employees and annual sales of SEK 10 billion. 
Case published 3.9.2026

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