The Swedish government will hold a beauty parade to shake up its M&A advisers in the next four months, with the victors set to share in the state's forthcoming Skr200bn (€22bn) asset sale. Sweden has an agreement with nine banks to advise on M&A transactions and share sales that expires in October.

A spokeswoman for the government said banks would be invited to pitch "before the summer" so a new agreement could be drawn up in time for the end of the contract.