M&A activity in Romania in the first nine months of 2022

The Romanian mergers and acquisitions (M&A) market recorded 169 transactions (1) in the first nine months of 2022, a 18% increase compared with the same period of 2021. Despite the higher volume of deal making, the estimated value of local M&A activity was lower on a year-on-year basis, having reached USD 4bn (2) vs. USD 5.4bn at September 2021.

On a quarterly basis, deal activity has increased, with volumes up by 3.6% and value by 5.3%. as compared with the same period of 2021.

Iulia Bratu, Partner, Head of Lead Advisoy, Strategy and Transactions, EY Romania: “Romania continues to be a dominant M&A market at a CEE level and is one of the few that showed growth in volume of transactions compared to 2021. Although we expect the next M&A cycle to be different, the unprecedented amount and mix of available capital have increased investors’ ability to do deals in a volatile environment thus setting a path for M&A to remain active, especially for players eyeing long term growth.”

No deals over USD 100m were announced during the third quarter. The largest disclosed deal was the acquisition of Mintia Thermal Power Plant by Mass Group for a reported USD 90.7m, followed by the acquisition of renewable energy assets in Romania by Enery Power Holding GMbH from Jade Power Trust (USD 71m), while another notable transaction was the sale of a 20% stake in Aqua Carpatica to Pepsi Co. for an undisclosed amount.

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Strategic investors continue to be the dominant players of Romania’s M&A market, accounting for 88% of transactions. Domestic transactions registered a 27% advance in 9M 2022 when compared to the same period, counting 84 transactions, while foreign players increased their activity by only 6% (74 transactions) when compared to the same period.

In terms of country of origin, the most active investing countries were the United States (8 deals), followed by Belgium (6 deals), Poland, and Germany (5 deals).

The most active sectors during the first nine months of 2022 were Technology (36 deals), Real estate (29 deals), Healthcare (21 deals), Diversified industrial products (15 deals) and Power & Utilities (13 deals).