NEWS The Siemens Financial Services Thesis Award in Finance is awarded to Felix Forsgren and Albin Renlund, Umeå School of Business, Economics and Statistics, for their thesis entitled “Capital Structure Adjustment in Nordic M&A: The Speed of Post-Acquisition Leverage Convergence.” The award includes a scholarship of SEK 20 000 and will be presented at the USBE graduation ceremony, 4 June, 2026.
Albin Renlund
ImagePrivateFirst, I would like to thank Siemens Financial Services for awarding us the Best Student Thesis Award in finance 2026. I would also like to express my sincere gratitude to my thesis partner, Felix, for his outstanding work throughout the entire writing process.
It is incredibly rewarding and an honor that our thesis has been recognized as being of high quality and relevant to the field of finance. Finally, I would like to thank our supervisor, Ebrahim Bazrafshan, for his support, guidance, and valuable criticism throughout the thesis process, which helped ensure that our study maintained a high standard and contributed to the field of research.
Felix Forsgren
ImageMattias HamrénI'm very grateful to Siemens Financial Services and Umeå School of Business, Economics and Statistics for this award. Receiving this recognition is both an honor and a meaningful confirmation of the time and effort we put into this thesis, and it's especially rewarding that our work has been recognized for its relevance to the field of finance. I would like to thank my thesis partner Albin for his work ethic and dedication throughout the entire process. I would also like to express my appreciation to our supervisor Ebrahim Bazrafshan whose guidance, feedback, and mentorship were valuable in helping us improve and deliver a high-quality thesis.
The jury mention in their decision that the winning thesis has a well motivated research question, that is commendable analyzed with relevant methods and data. The thesis, that is well written, contribute with both theoretical and practical knowledge regarding capital structure adjustments among Nordic firms following a firm acquisition.
The price, which is handed out as a scholarship, has been made financially possible through USBE’s collaboration with Siemens Financial Services.
The thesis supervisor was Ebrahim Bazrafshan.
The thesis can be found here.