Johan Steen
Johan Steen
Johan Steen
Johan Steen

Johan Steen is an absolute superstar. He is an incredibly commercial guy who is strategic and knows what it takes to get a deal done in a competitive environment.
(The Legal 500)

“the difference between making the deal and not making the deal.”
(Chambers)

“Johan Steen is a fantastic M&A lawyer whose mix of technical precision, international mindset, commercial judgment, and calm leadership under pressure makes him stand out from the crowd.”
(The Legal 500)

Biography

Johan Steen is a Partner in White & Case's EMEA Private Equity Group. He focuses on advising financial investors (private equity) and corporates acquiring from financial investors, particularly in connection with complex cross-border M&A. Johan has more than 20 years of experience in M&A and private equity and has successfully completed transactions in more than 20 countries.

Johan also frequently advises on equity restructurings (including distressed M&A). He has also represented several Nordic and international GPs (buy-out, real estate, venture and deal-by-deal funds) and LPs in connection with fundraisings, continuation vehicles and other secondary transactions.

Johan has led teams advising on a large number of high-profile deals in the Nordic region in recent years.

According to the leading M&A ranking institute Mergermarket, Johan has acted on more than 120 transactions with an aggregate value exceeding USD 55 billion, which is one of the highest deal values recorded by a Nordic private M&A lawyer.

He has previously been ranked by Mergermarket as:

  • #1 in private M&A deal value in Sweden
  • #1 in cross-border M&A in Sweden by deal value and volume
  • #1 in private equity deal volume in the Nordics
  • #6 in total deal volume in Europe

Johan's transactional experience includes public-to-private buy-outs, corporate carve-outs, FIG M&A, infrastructure M&A, technology M&A, dual-track exits, restructurings and distressed investing.

He has advised clients on cross-border M&A involving targets in Denmark, Norway, Finland, the US, the UK, Spain, Eastern Europe (including Poland and Russia), Germany, France, China, India, Taiwan, Greece, Canada, South Korea, Japan, the Netherlands and Italy.

Johan has advised on cross-border M&A across a wide range of sectors, including Automotive, Business Services (including consultancy, distribution, IT services and installation), FIG (banks, payments and financial advisers), Industrials, Infrastructure & Transportation, Food & Beverage, Green Transition, Healthcare (including pharmaceuticals, medical devices and medtech), Consumer & Retail (including e-commerce and leisure travel), Energy and TMT (telecom and software).

Prior to joining White & Case, Johan served as Associate General Counsel at Altor Equity Partners, one of the leading Nordic private equity firms. This experience has provided him with unique insights into the mindset and investment process of private equity investors.

Johan holds an MBA (with distinction) from London Business School and is a member of the Swedish Bar Association.

Acknowledgements include:

"Johan Steen combines technical excellence with a rare ability to think like his clients. He is extremely responsive and very commercial" – Chambers (2026)

"He is incredibly hands-on, extremely responsive and has a laser-focused client mindset. He is very commercial and gets the deal done." – Chambers (2024)

"Leading Individual (Sweden) within Commercial, Corporate and M&A" – Legal 500

"Sweden's best business lawyer" – The Swedish Financial Gazette (Dagens Industri; 2017)

"Emerging Leader in the EMEA" – The M&A Advisor (2017)

"One of thirty Under 40 private equity lawyers globally" – Private Fund Management (2017)

Experience

Representative transactions include:

Representation of funds managed by Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking Division on their acquisition of Advania AB, a leading Nordic provider of IT services and products. The deal is one of the largest M&A deals in the Nordics in 2021.

Representation of Nomura, a global financial services firm and Barclays, a multinational investment bank and financial services company on their acquisition of Cevian Capital's entire stake in AB Volvo, the global leading truck manufacturer and the largest stock-listed entity in Sweden, and Nomura and Barclays later on-sale of the entire stake to Geely. The deal was the largest deal in Sweden 2017 and the largest ever exit by an activist fund globally.

Representation of Ingenico Group, the global leader in seamless payments, on its EUR 1.5 billion acquisition of Bambora, a fast-growing global player in the payments industry, from private equity firm Nordic Capital. The transaction was the 2nd largest transaction in Sweden in 2017.

Representation of Naspers, a global internet and entertainment group and one of the world's largest technology investors in connection with their USD 1.2 billion majority stake investment in Avito AB, one of the world's leading online classifieds companies, in 2015 and Naspers' subsequent USD1.16 billion buy-out of the remaining minority in 2019. The deal was the 2nd largest private M&A deal in Sweden in 2015 and the largest ever online deal in the Nordics and the 2nd largest private M&A deal in Sweden 2019.

Representation of the sellers in the sale of the Dellner Couplers Group, a leading supplier of complete train connections systems, to the EQT VIII fund. The deal was the 5th largest private M&A deal in Sweden 2019.

Representation of Bridgepoint, the leading European private equity house, on the SEK8.5 billion (US$930 million) disposal of the Nordic Cinema Group, the largest cinema operator in the Nordic region, to AMC Entertainment, the world's largest cinema operator. The deal was the 3rd largest deal in Sweden 2017.

Representation of Nalka, a Swedish investment firm, in the acquisition of OneMed (subsequently renamed to Asker), one of the leading medical supplies distributors in Europe, from 3i and the subsequent SEK 26.8bn IPO of Asker (the largest IPO in Europe H1 2025 and the largest healthcare IPO globally in H1 2025.

Representation of Altor, a family of private equity funds focused on investing and developing medium sized companies and one of Johan's repeat clients. He has acted for them on more than 25 successfully closed deals, including e.g. the following:

  • Altor's successful public-to-private bid for Permascand and the subsequent acquisition of Magneto Special Anodes from the global water solutions company Xylem Inc.
  • the growth investment in Svea Solar, one of Europe's fastest growing cleantech companies offering solutions for sustainable living including solar panel systems, batteries and electric car chargers;
  • representation of Altor and Trioworld, a leader within sustainable plastic film products, on the acquisition of Canadian / U.S.-based Malpack, a leading North American player in solutions for high-performance stretch film in the transit packaging segment, whereby a transatlantic powerhouse within stretch film was created (this is also one of the largest add-ons ever made by a Altor-owned portfolio company);
  • the acquisition of Thomas Cook Northern Europe (a.k.a. Vinggruppen; and subsequently to Nordic Leisure Travel Group) by a consortium consisting of Altor, Strawberry Equities (Petter Stordalen) and TDR;
  • the acquisition of Eleda, a provider of installation and contract services in the infrastructure sector, (including the add-on of JVAB) from management investors and the divestment of One Nordic, a producer and supplier of electricity, to Eleda whereby an infrastructure service provider with more than SEK 6bn in revenue was created;
  • the MEUR 275 divestment of Ålö, the global market leader in front loaders and associated implements for agricultural tractors, to Jost Werke;
  • the acquisition of Gummigrossen and RengasDuo, the market leading tire and tire related wholesalers in Sweden and Finland respectively; and
  • the acquisition of Carnegie Investment Bank, a leading independent Nordic Investment Bank and Max Matthiessen, a leading independent Swedish adviser within pension insurance, life insurance and long-term savings, from the Swedish National Debt Office.

Representation of FSN Capital, a leading Nordic private equity investor focused on middle market investments and another of Johan's repeat clients. He has acted for them on more than 20 successfully closed deals, including e.g. the following:

  • representation of FSN Capital Confluence and FSN Fund V in connection with the formation of FSN Capital Confluence, a newly established €588 million continuation fund, and FSN Fund V's sale and FSN Capital Confluence's acquisition of the two portfolio companies, Nordlo and Saferoad. Nordlo is a leading Nordic managed IT service provider and Saferoad is one of the largest providers of road safety and infrastructure solutions in Europe.
  • the acquisition of Adragos Pharma, a globally operating contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) headquartered in Germany;
  • the acquisition of Bygghemma, the leading Nordic online retailer of do-it-yourself products (DIY) and home furnishings, from Nordstjernan;
  • the acquisition of SneakersnStuff, a leading global online and physical retailer of limited edition sneakers; and
  • the acquisition of Holmbergs Safety Systems, a global supplier of mission critical safety systems to the child safety seat industry.

Representation of Patricia Industries, the private equity arm of Investor AB (publ), and its portfolio company Piab, a manufacturer of vacuum pumps and parts, in connection with Piab's acquisition of Tawi, a leading provider of complete light lifting solutions, from SEB Private Equity.

Representation of Hexatronic AB (publ), a global leader in fiber optic infrastructure and technology, and another of Johan's repeat clients. He has acted for them on 15 cross-border deals including e.g. the following:

  • the acquisition of the U.K. company Fibron from Rubicon Partners;
  • the acquisition of the U.S. company Rochester Cable;
  • the acquisitions of the South Korean company KNET;
  • the acquisition of the U.K. company Impact Data Solutions;
  • the acquisition of all telecom activities (asset transfer) of the Germany and Austria based company REHAU Group; and
  • the acquisition of Italian company Qubix S.p.A,

Representation of HgCapital Renewable Power Partners and its Swedish wind farm investment vehicle Vasa Vind in connection with APG's MEUR 300 acquisition and investment in the 288 MW Åskälen onshore wind power project, which at the time of the signing was the largest ever onshore wind renewable power project in Sweden.

Representation of EQT, the global leading alternative multi-asset class investment manager, in connection the on-shore reorganization of the EQT funds.

Sweden, Advokat
MBA (With Distinction)
London Business School
LLM
Juris kandidat
University of Lund
Sweden
MSSc, Master of Social Science in Business and Administration
University of Lund
Swedish
English

The Legal 500 EMEA 2023 – Leading Individual – Commercial, Corporate and M&A, Sweden

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