Deals of the year Media & Advertising

Romania’s market for mergers & acquisitions (M&A) has remained at around EUR 1 billion in 2013, driven by deals in the banking and renewable sector, although big investors have held back and are carefully planning moves for next year, say deal makers.

By Ovidiu Posirca

Media & Advertising

Publicis Groupe buys Zenith Media Communication

Value of transaction: Not made public

Legal team, buyer: Biris Goran, KPMG (financial)

Legal team, seller: Not made public

Publicis Groupe media network ZenithOptimedia took majority control of media buying company Zenith Romania, which was previously an affiliate agency. The vendor was communications group Centrade.

Hospitality Services acquires Deuromedia

Value of transaction: Not made public

Legal team, buyer: Wolf Theiss (local counsel)

Legal team, seller: Not applicable

Hospitality Services, a subsidiary of Swisscom, acquired the operations of Deuromedia Technologies Entwicklungs – und Vertriebs, to strengthen its global position in entertainment services for hotels. The acquisition was structured as an asset/business deal in Austria and as a share deal in Romania.

Aegis Group acquires Kinecto International

Value of transaction: EUR 5 million

Legal team, buyer: Wolf Theiss

Legal team, seller: Tuca Zbarcea & Asociatii

The main shareholders in Romanian marketing agency Kinecto International – Dragos Grigoriu and Radu Ionescu – fully sold their stakes to London-based Aegis Group, a multinational media and digital marketing communications company.

Burda International buys Sanoma Hearst Romania

Value of transaction: Not made public

Legal team, buyer: D&B David si Baias

Legal team, seller: Clifford Chance offices in the Netherlands and Romania

Burda International took over all the activities of Sanoma Hearst in Romania, becoming one of the largest media groups in the country with over 35 titles and 40 online media services.

Publicis Groupe takes over majority stake in five affiliated agencies

Value of transaction: Not made public

Legal team, buyer: DLA Piper, KPMG (financial)

Legal team, seller: Not made public

Publicis Groupe, one of the largest communications groups worldwide, consolidated its local operations by reaching a 51 percent stake in five affiliated agencies: Leo Burnett & Target, Starcom MediaVest Group, The Practice and iLeo (all part of Leo Burnett Group) and Optimedia (part of Publicis Romania). Prior to the deal, Publicis owned 35 percent in Leo Burnett and 35 percent in Starcom, but had no stake in iLeo, The Practice or Optimedia.

Local investors buy Euromedia from JOJ Media House

Value of transaction: Not made public

Legal team, buyer: Bostina si Asociatii

Legal team, seller: Wolf Theiss

A group of Romanian investors acquired from Slovak JOJ Media House the full share package in Euromedia Holding, the leading outdoor advertiser in Romania. The group has over 8,000 outdoor advertising boards across Romania, reporting a turnover of EUR 8 million in 2012.

APG|SGA exits Romania

Value of transaction: Not made public

Legal team, buyer: Niculeasa law firm

Legal team, seller: NNDKP

APG|SGA, Switzerland’s leading out-of-home advertising company, sold its entire participation in Affichage Romania to Rene Rosenberg, the current local CEO, acting with co-investors.

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