Business lawyers happy as number of merger and acquisitions swells.

• Sweden's economy a 'bright spot in Europe'
• Foreign investments dive in Sweden

Last year the number of merger and acquisitions in Swedish related companies dived by 60 percent in value due to the financial crisis. This year, however, M&A; activity booms in the Scandinavian country as the economy is on the road to recovery.

During the first six month of 2010 the number of merger and acquisitions increased by 40 percent, according to a sum-up by Mergermarket, business daily Dagens Industri said Thursday.

The news came the day after Swedish Hexagon, the world’s biggest maker of measuring instruments, agreed to buy US-based Intergraph Corp for 2.13 billion dollar.

The biggest group of winners on the increased number of merger and acquisitions is, perhaps little surprisingly, business lawyers. Top legal bureau Mannheimer Swartling has increased sales by 10 percent and Vinge reports “enourmisly high activity”, the newspaper said.

On the global M&A; market, Google is well on its way to acquiring more venture-backed startups than any other company in 2010, after years of watching rivals like Cisco, IBM, and Microsoft dominate the M&A; market, Bloomberg said.

The number of newly launched limited companies has also swelled significantly this year in Sweden. Last month the number increased more than 60 percent compared to the same month last year. Part of the increase could be the result of new rules on how much capital you need to start a limited company, Swedish Radio said.

Last year Sweden recorded 32 percent fewer foreign direct investments as the Nordics' high-quality attractiveness may be eroding, Ernst & Young warned in a report.