---
title: "Private Equity | Pia Santavirta | Negotiator 94"
titleOriginal: "Pääomasijoittaminen | Private Equity | Pia Santavirta | Neuvottelija 94"
episodeNumber: "94"
guest: "Pia Santavirta"
datePublished: 2021-08-14
duration: "55:12"
youtube: "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oj392t2pnbI"
originalLanguage: "fi"
topics: ["ownership_capital_tax","investing_markets","ma_exits"]
subtitleMethod: "none"
provenance: "Owner page assembled from YouTube metadata, the neuvottelija.fi episode record and the publisher's own chapter marks, translated one for one. The marks are genuine: twenty-six of them, with gaps from 47 to over 200 seconds, tracking the recording rather than a grid. No transcript is published here — the channel has no English caption track for this episode and the Finnish one is YouTube's automatic track. The guest leads the industry's trade association and the episode is that industry's case in her own words, including the performance figures for private-equity-backed listings, which are the association's own and are not examined here; no critic of the sector is present. The host works in corporate finance and concedes twice in the episode that he had been wrong, about those listings and about impact investing. Recorded 14 August 2021."
fiCanonical: "https://www.neuvottelija.fi/fi/episodes/106-paaomasijoittaminen-eli-private-equity-pia-santavirta-neuvot"
canonical: https://www.neuvottelija.com/podcast/episodes/ep94-paaomasijoittaminen-private-equity-pia-santavirta/
---
# Private Equity | Pia Santavirta | Negotiator 94

English subtitles are not available on this page. This is an episode summary, not a curated transcript.

## Chapters

- [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oj392t2pnbI&t=0s) The highlights of the episode
- [00:57](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oj392t2pnbI&t=57s) The guest is Pia Santavirta, chief executive of the Finnish Venture Capital Association
- [01:44](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oj392t2pnbI&t=104s) Sneaking into Slush, and a call from Tuomas Lang
- [04:16](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oj392t2pnbI&t=256s) Angels, venture capital and buyout: the structure of the field
- [06:14](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oj392t2pnbI&t=374s) VC returns, and sixteen new funds in Finland
- [08:49](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oj392t2pnbI&t=529s) Foreign capital, and the size of Finnish funds
- [10:45](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oj392t2pnbI&t=645s) Money stays as fuel for growth; the talent shortage is the next bottleneck
- [12:29](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oj392t2pnbI&t=749s) The association's aims: communication, advocacy, developing the sector
- [14:38](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oj392t2pnbI&t=878s) The double taxation of funds-of-funds was dismantled
- [16:51](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oj392t2pnbI&t=1011s) EIF money, and competitive regulation for Finland
- [19:04](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oj392t2pnbI&t=1144s) Private-equity-backed listings perform better
- [21:44](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oj392t2pnbI&t=1304s) Anchor investors and family offices working together
- [23:44](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oj392t2pnbI&t=1424s) ESG and impact: does it improve returns
- [26:50](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oj392t2pnbI&t=1610s) Access to financing requires ESG work
- [28:45](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oj392t2pnbI&t=1725s) Following EU regulation, with Finland ahead of it
- [31:33](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oj392t2pnbI&t=1893s) The next generation builds impact into the core of the business
- [34:07](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oj392t2pnbI&t=2047s) The Covid crisis: Venture Bridge and a record year
- [37:26](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oj392t2pnbI&t=2246s) Digitalisation accelerated and investments were made remotely
- [39:02](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oj392t2pnbI&t=2342s) Buyout invests in Finland, foreign capital takes the next stage
- [40:21](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oj392t2pnbI&t=2421s) PHM and Kotikatu: the nerve to grow by acquisition
- [41:34](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oj392t2pnbI&t=2494s) Norvestor and Verdane bring an appetite for internationalisation
- [44:42](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oj392t2pnbI&t=2682s) An accelerator bringing young people into private equity
- [47:46](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oj392t2pnbI&t=2866s) Women in private equity, and publishing the diversity figures
- [50:50](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oj392t2pnbI&t=3050s) Wealthy women as investors and role models
- [53:19](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oj392t2pnbI&t=3199s) Women in STEM, and healthy audacity
- [54:41](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oj392t2pnbI&t=3281s) Thanks and closing words

## Summary

Pia Santavirta, chief executive of the Finnish Venture Capital Association, sets out the structure of Finland's private capital market and its rapid professionalisation: sixteen new venture capital funds in five years, a record year of nearly a billion euros in startup investment during the pandemic, and roughly half of the new companies on the Helsinki exchange coming from private equity ownership. The episode's most concrete passage is an anatomy of advocacy — the double taxation of funds-of-funds prevented foreign investors from putting money into Finnish funds, and the fix was initially limited to European players until a single phone call extended it worldwide. Santavirta also explains why private-equity-backed listings have outperformed the market, what ESG requirements mean for access to financing, and why she published the industry's diversity figures even though they were poor.

## One tax provision, one flow of capital

The funds-of-funds passage is the most instructive thing here because it is so specific. A double taxation rule made Finnish funds unattractive to foreign investors; removing it opened the flow. Advocacy usually gets described in generalities, and this is the version with a mechanism in it.

## And then a phone call

The fix as drafted covered European investors only, which would have left most of the world's capital outside it. One call extended it. That detail is the part practitioners should keep — the win was in the scope, and the scope was nearly lost by default.

## Publishing the bad number

The diversity figures were poor and she released them anyway. Whatever follows, the subsequent years are now measurable against a stated starting point, which is more than most industries arrange for themselves.


## Watch

The recording lives on the Neuvottelija channel: [Pääomasijoittaminen | Private Equity | Pia Santavirta | Neuvottelija 94](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oj392t2pnbI).
A Finnish edition of this episode is published at [www.neuvottelija.fi](https://www.neuvottelija.fi/fi/episodes/106-paaomasijoittaminen-eli-private-equity-pia-santavirta-neuvot).

## In depth

The Neuvottelija AI editions carry a long-form write-up of this episode:
[English](https://www.neuvottelija.com/ai/ep94-paaomasijoittaminen-private-equity-pia-santavirta/) · [suomeksi](https://www.neuvottelija.fi/economy/ep94-paaomasijoittaminen-private-equity-pia-santavirta/).

## Explore the ideas in depth

- [How to Sell a Company in Finland: An M&A Banker's Guide to a Clean Exit](https://www.neuvottelija.com/guides/how-to-sell-a-company-in-finland/): A practical guide to selling a company in Finland and the Nordics — the process phase by phase, share deal vs asset deal, valuation, due diligence, buyer types, deal structures, taxes on the sale, minority squeeze-outs and the ownership context that shapes every exit. Grounded in Neuvottelija conversations and Translink M&A practice.
- [Nordic SaaS Valuation & M&A: How AI Reprices Software Companies](https://www.neuvottelija.com/guides/nordic-saas-valuation-and-ma/): How software companies in the Nordics are valued and sold as AI moves inference into the cost of goods sold — where multiples stand in mid-2026, the metrics that get repriced, why vertical SaaS defends its premium, AI due diligence, and the shift from seats to outcomes. Grounded in Translink's SaaS valuation work and Neuvottelija conversations.
- [Private equity in Finland: active ownership, growth and AI-assisted investor relations](https://www.neuvottelija.com/guides/private-equity-finland-active-ownership-and-ai/): A practical guide to venture capital, growth and buyouts, ownership economics, risks and investor communication — with Pia Santavirta’s Neuvottelija 94 interview and Sami Miettinen’s March 2026 FVCA workshop.

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Cite as: Sami Miettinen, Neuvottelija — Private Equity | Pia Santavirta | Negotiator 94, https://www.neuvottelija.com/podcast/episodes/ep94-paaomasijoittaminen-private-equity-pia-santavirta/, 2021-08-14. For quotes include episode 94 and timestamp.