Employment Issues in M&A

Employment law risks and obligations need to be taken care of in M&A projects.

Our employment lawyers are actively involved in M&A projects. Together with our firm’s experts in other fields of law we will ensure that your business operations continue as smoothly as possible both during and after your M&A project.

Our employment law services in M&A projects include:

Due diligence reviews of employment law issues
Obligations under the Co-operation Act
Social insurance issues
Personnel effects arising from M&A projects and implementation thereof
Employment and director agreements

Our clients in M&A projects are always companies.

Latest references

Exsitec – Acquisition of M-flow Finland

We advised Exsitec Holding AB in a transaction whereby it acquired all the shares in M-flow Finland Oy. M-flow Finland Oy is a Finnish company engaged in reselling Medius B2B standard S2P software-as-a-service solutions in Finland. Exsitec Holding AB is a Swedish company part of the Nordic Exsitec group, which has over 20 offices in the Nordics. Exsitec delivers digital solutions to improve its customers’ businesses.

4.7.2024

eQ Community Properties Fund – Sale of two healthcare properties

We assisted eQ Community Properties Fund in the sale of two healthcare properties to a fund managed by Northern Horizon. The properties have a total floor area of approximately 3,500 square meters. The two properties are located in Espoo and Lahti. The Espoo asset was completed in 2018 and the Lahti asset was completed in 2023. Both assets are operated by Attendo, the leading care provider in the Nordic region.

9.5.2025

BMW AG – Enforcement of BMW’s trademark and design rights

We successfully represented BMW in an exceptionally long dispute over whether the spare rims sold by the defendant and the hub caps included in them infringed BMW’s trademark and design rights. The Market Court found that the sign used by the defendant caused a likelihood of confusion with BMW’s trademarks. The defendant had used the sign on the hub caps and in the marketing of the hub caps and rims, leading the Market Court to find that the defendant had infringed BMW’s trademark rights. The defendant admitted to infringing BMW’s Community design but denied the related injunction claim. However, the Market Court found that there was no particular reason to refrain from issuing an injunction. The Market Court prohibited the defendant from continuing to infringe BMW’s trademarks and Community design and ordered the defendant to alter or destroy the products and marketing materials that infringed BMW’s rights. Furthermore, the Market Court ordered the defendant to pay BMW EUR 70,000 in reasonable compensation and EUR 80,000 in damages for the trademark infringements, as well as EUR 7,000 in reasonable compensation and EUR 8,000 in damages for the design right infringement. The amounts can be considered exceptionally high in Finland. Additionally, the Market Court ordered the defendant to pay a significant portion of BMW’s legal costs with interest on late payment. In its decision of 11 March 2025, the Supreme Court of Finland did not grant the defendant leave to appeal, and also decided that there was no need to seek a preliminary ruling from the Court of Justice of the European Union. Thus, the Market Court’s judgements (MAO:494/18 ja 517/2023) are final. In addition to the main dispute, BMW demanded in a separate proceeding that one of the defendant’s trademark registrations be revoked. A total of three separate legal proceedings were conducted in the Market Court regarding the revocation. The defendant’s trademark registration was ultimately revoked.

9.5.2025

DNA – Global brand portfolio management and IP enforcement

We are advising DNA Plc in brand protection and intellectual property enforcement matters globally. Our intellectual property team manages DNA’s global trademark portfolio, including registration, prosecution, opposition and enforcement. We also advise DNA in questions concerning consumer and marketing law, unfair competition, social media, domain names and cybersquatting. DNA Plc is one of Finland’s leading telecommunication companies. DNA offers connections, services and devices for homes and workplaces, contributing to the digitalisation of society. The company has approximately 3.7 million subscriptions in its fixed and mobile communications networks. In 2024, DNA’s total revenue was EUR 1,100 million, and the company employs about 1,600 people around Finland. DNA is part of Telenor Group.

7.5.2025

All cases

Latest insights

9.4.2025 – Dispute Resolution New European Court of Justice ruling C-537/23 sheds light on the interpretation and validity of asymmetric jurisdiction clauses – Implications for European businesses

Robin Ollus & Tuomas Lehtinen

7.4.2025 – Private Equity & Venture Capital Tax credit for major clean transition investments passed in Parliament – application period until 29 August 2025

Janne Juusela, Mikko Alakare, Samuli Tarkiainen, Marius af Schultén, Jarno Tanhuanpää, Kanerva Sunila & Noora Ahonen

25.3.2025 – Mergers & Acquisitions How to successfully run a large-scale cross-border M&A project?

Carola Lindholm & Samuli Tarkiainen

10.3.2025 – Mergers & Acquisitions Navigating uncharted waters: M&A and defence tech in the age of geopolitical uncertainty

Markus Rahnu

Insights

Employment Issues in M&A