Norvestor has agreed terms for a NKr2.2 billion ($225 million; €197 million) offer to take Oslo-listed payroll provider Zalaris private. The deal values the company at NKr100 per share, representing a 40.1% premium to its March 12 closing price and a 31.9% premium to its 30-day volume-weighted average. Zalaris, a global cloud-based payroll and HR services provider with over 1,200 employees across 18 countries, has a board that unanimously recommends the offer to shareholders. Norvestor plans to expand Zalaris' international footprint and invest in technology and automation to strengthen its market position.

This move occurs against a backdrop where private equity faces heightened execution risk in defense deals, according to Alexandrine Armstrong-Cerfontaine of Goodwin's private equity group. Geopolitical factors now dictate deal structures, making FDI approval a critical hurdle. Armstrong-Cerfontaine notes that a lower offer can be strategically acceptable if it mitigates execution complexity, which includes scalability challenges in procurement, regulatory approvals, and exit options, rather than simply being a mispricing issue. Private equity's agility is seen as a strategic asset in navigating these complexities.

Separately, EQT completed its final sell-down in Galderma, a global dermatology company, realizing aggregate gross proceeds of approximately SFr4.9 billion ($6.2 billion; €5.42 billion). This represents the largest sponsor-backed block trade in history and brings EQT's total proceeds from Galderma to SFr21 billion for its funds and co-investors, marking the largest value-creation outcome in the firm's history. The dermatology company was initially listed by EQT in 2024 at a market cap of around SFr15 billion.