The Romanian M&A market recorded 189 completed deals worth EUR 4.3 billion last year, down by around 20% from 2022, when it reached EUR 5.2 billion, according to analysis by PwC Romania. Last year's result was largely underpinned by the deal in which Greek group PPC bought Enel Romania, a transaction worth EUR 1.3 billion.
Considering both completed and signed but not completed deals, there were 241 deals last year with a total value of EUR 7.7 billion. However, many of the deals signed last year were announced in the last quarter and are expected to be completed this year, such as Mega Image's acquisition of the Profi network for more than EUR 1 billion and Unicredit's acquisition of Alpha Bank.
"The first quarter of 2024 indicates that this year could be a very good one for the M&A market in Romania. Large deals have already been signed and we expect them to close in the first half of this year, and other medium and small deals have been announced. Mergers and acquisitions remain a strategic tool for the development and growth of companies in the context of competitive pressures, new technologies and climate change. We see that Romanian CEOs are increasingly considering the option of initiating transactions. According to the results of our CEO Survey 2024, four out of ten (41%) CEOs in Romania are considering a transaction in the next three years," said Dinu Bumbăcea, Country Managing Partner PwC Romania.
Eight very large transactions took place on the Romanian market, in this category being those exceeding EUR 100 million. Nevertheless, the last few years have also brought a few transactions of more than one billion euro.
"While the number of transactions has decreased, we see that the average value of a transaction is higher than in the previous year. Romania has been reaffirmed for the fourth year in a row as a market where deals worth more than EUR 1 billion take place: CEZ in 2020, the two-stage deal involving Romgaz's acquisition of Neptun Deep in 2021 and 2022, Enel in 2023. Without the EUR 1 billion-plus Enel deal, the local market would have reached EUR 3.1 billion in 2023. It is worth noting that 70% of the number of transactions and 80% of their value come from transactions with strategic players as buyers. However, we see an increasing activity of investment funds and entrepreneurial companies doing deals, especially in the IT sector," says George Ureche, Director and M&A Leader of PwC Romania.
The average value of a transaction last year was EUR 23 million, the highest average value since 2020. The IT&C, consumer goods, industrial products and services sectors saw a significant increase in average deal value. The average deal value for strategic investors was EUR 25 million, while the average deal value for investment funds was lower.
The segment of deals above EUR 5 million remains buoyant, accounting for around 51% of the total number of deals, suggesting that there is still room for consolidation and venture capital investment.
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