M&A activity in Romania close to EUR 1.2 bln in 2014, says PwC Romania

Romania reported in 2014 merger and acquisition transactions worth approximately EUR 1.2 billion, according to a PwC Romania analysis. This volume is similar to the one reported in 2013 and it ranks Romania as the third M&A market in CEE after Poland and the Czech Republic, according to the same source.

“In Romania, although we felt in 2014 a renewed enthusiasm for the M&A activity, we are not yet at the transaction levels reached before the global financial crisis”, said Radu Stoicoviciu, advisory leader with PwC Romania.

This year the local M&A market is expected to post a “steady increase” as a result of “improved growth perspectives and renewed investor confidence”, said Anda Rojanschi, partner, D&B David şi Baias, the correspondent law firm of PwC Romania, and head of the M&A practice. The European Central Bank’s recently announced quantitative easing programme should lead to an increase of foreign investments in Romania, she explained.

In 2014 the average deal value was below EUR 20 million and most deals were of small and medium size. The most dynamic sectors for M&As last year were IT&C, financial services and retail, says PwC. By comparison, this year IT&C, healthcare and the services sectors, here including financial services are expected to continue the consolidation process.

Overall, both global and European M&A markets increased in 2014 up to levels close to the one in 2007, the biggest M&A year on record.

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Analysis: Romania is among the most active mergers and acquisitions markets in Central and Eastern Europe

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Read BR’s ‘Deals of the year’ analysis on the local M&A market here and see a list of the most important transactions in BR’s December 2014 print edition.

Simona Bazavan