The value of the Romanian mergers and acquisitions market increased by 160% in 2015, surpassing EUR 3 billion, according to an analysis by PwC Romania.

The strong growth of the Romanian market was in line with the global trend where the most dynamic sectors in terms of M&A activity were energy, pharmaceuticals, and FMCG.

“It is estimated that this year, the developed nations in the G7 group will register the highest GDP growth rate since 2010, which will no doubt have an impact on the M&A market. As this period of “cheap money”, if we can call it as such, is slowly coming to an end, investors will be looking for higher returns, taking into account more and more the opportunities on the stable emergent markets – such as the east-European countries,” said Radu Stoicoviciu, Advisory Services and Deals Leader, PwC Romania.

In Romania, most of the deals were registered in the industrial products and real estate sectors, the average value of a deal being EUR 26 million. Most of the transactions carried out in Romania were small and medium-sized deals.

“The optimism in the market is growing, while the economic context is favourable, taking into account the GPD growth forecasts for Romania in 2016. The year also started on a positive note after the announcement of large deals such as the sale of Albalact, Carpatica, and McDonald’s Romania, so we expect that the local M&A market to remain on an upward path in 2016, with deals in sectors that were active in 2015 as well, such as banking or real-estate, but also in other industries,” said Anda Rojanschi, Partner, D&B David şi Baias, coordinator of the tax and legal services M&A team.

PwC is one of the top M&A consultants in Romania, its portfolio of completed deals having a total value of EUR 1.3 billion between 2007 and 2015. In 2015, PwC was involved in several significant transactions, providing buy-side or sell-side advice, such as Irish group CRH's takeover of Lafarge Romania and MidEuropa's purchase of Regina Maria private healthcare service provider from Advent.

PwC report: M&A activity in Romania stays at EUR 1.2 bln

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com