The Hovea m/49 was adopted by Denmark, but was originally designed by Huqvarna for Swedish military trials. The first 10 prototype were made in 1944 and competed against the Carl Gustav Stads design - which ultimately won and was adopted by Sweden as the m/45. Both designs were very similar; simple blowback, open bolt, and made from tube and stampings.

Denmark adopted the Husqvarna design in 1949 as the Hovea m/49, with production licensed to a Danish state firm in Copenhagen. While this and the m/45 are very similar, the Hovea has the capability to use Suomi drums - which the m/45 does not. That appears to have been a significant factor in the Danish choice, although in service they initially used Finnish quad-stack magazine before switching to the more reliable Swedish double-stack m/45 box type.

A total of 15,750 m/49s were made, with an initial batch of 750 in 1950 and a main production run of 15,000 in 1952. It remained in Danish service into the 1990s, when it was replaced by the Diemaco C7 and the Hoveas were given to Lithuania.