Pemberton opens Copenhagen office to boost Nordic investment

Pemberton has opened an office in Copenhagen as it looks to increase its deal origination capabilities in the Nordic countries.

The office opening will see Pemberton’s director in the Nordics, Victor Kihlgren, move to Copenhagen from London. Pemberton said the move will reinforce its relationships with its Nordic investors, local borrowers and the Nordic private equity community.

Kihlgren told PDI Pemberton’s activity in the region has developed from seeking to raise capital to becoming a destination for deployment.

He said: “When I joined Pemberton in 2016 we were very much focused on fundraising in the Nordics and speaking to pension funds and insurers in the region. Today, we’re also looking a lot more at originating deals in the region and building up networks with financial sponsors.”

The area has seen relatively slow development in private credit compared with other parts of Europe, despite being a popular investment geography for private equity investors, largely due to the relative health of its banks during and after the financial crisis.

“Banks in the Nordics aren’t under as much pressure as in other parts of Europe,” Kihlgren explained. “In the single-B credit space, banks in the UK or continental Europe can’t usually hold more than €30 million but this can be as high as €100 million in Scandinavia.”

However, private debt has become more active in recent years, Kihlgren said, adding: “We’re mostly competing with other private debt providers but also we have a number of pension funds in the region that are lending directly to corporates.”

Pemberton’s network in Europe now spans eight countries, with offices in London, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Madrid, Milan, Luxembourg and Paris in addition to Copenhagen.