October 9 (SeeNews) - Romania's mergers and acquisitions (M&A) market is expected to reach 3 billion euro ($3.52 billion) in 2017, global consultancy Deloitte said on Monday.
In the first nine months of the year, the M&A market in Romania reached 2 billion euro on the basis of six deals value at between 100 and 500 million euro each, Deloitte said in a press release.
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"The last quarter is the most important of the year and given the transactions which are still under negotiations, we expect yet another 1 billion euro to be put on the market," Deloitte Romania merger and acquisition consultant partner Ioana Filipescu said.
In the third quarter alone, the value of the M&A market tripled on the year to 898 million euro, while the number of transactions grew by 20% year-on-year.
The largest deal in the third quarter was the 177.5 million euro acquisition of the Radisson Hotel and its hospitality complex by Revetas Capital.
"The price for this landmark Bucharest hotel will be a reference point in the 5-star hotels segment and we expect further such deals in the next period," Filipescu added.
The second largest transaction in the third quarter was the acquisition by Romanian power distributor and supplier Electrica [BSE:EL] of the minority stakes held by investment fund Fondul Proprietatea in Electrica's subsidiaries, a deal worth 165 million euro.
The acquisition of Banca Romaneasca by Hungary's OTP banking group with an equity value said to be around 100 million euro is the largest deal in Romania's banking sector in the last two years, Deloitte added.
The review includes transactions announced in the relevant period that have an estimated or announced value of between 5 million and 500 million euro.
Romania's M&A market grew by 23% in terms of value to an estimated 3.5 billion euro in 2016, according to Deloitte.
($ =0.8517 euro)
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