N orwegian Agro‐Food Attracting P rivate E quity Capital; Varieties of Capitalism – Varieties of Financialisation?

Due to the (relatively) small scale of the N orwegian food industry, P rivate E quity capital is deeply involved in the structural development of the sector through acquisitions and takeovers. The N orwegian social‐democratic model of agriculture, with its attempts to maintain farming all over the country, struggles with comparative disadvantages in productivity and P rivate E quity capital is investing in direct competition with farmer co‐operatives. An outline of the socioeconomic characteristics of the N orwegian model as well as those of P rivate E quity illuminates why they both fit well together. Thus, we argue in this article that it is the N orwegian model of agriculture, with its non‐market based elements, that today attracts finance capital and discuss whether this involvement of finance capital can be considered as a process of financialisation. Findings based on analysis of case‐studies of P rivate E quity buyout in the agro‐food industry suggest that the economic motives of P rivate E quity takeovers are based on a combination of typical industry capitalism with investments in productivity and efficiency, rather than merely financialisation. Findings are interpreted in a variety of capitalism framework combining social theory on financialisation with business school theories on P rivate E quity transactions.