Romania’s M&A mkt value falls to $2.3 bln in H1

The volume of M&A transactions also dropped to 124 transactions during the first six months of 2024, from a record-high of 132 deals recorded a year earlier, EY said in a press release.

Despite the annual drop, the underlying value of the M&A market remained broadly flat after adjusting for the $1.3 billion acquisition of Enel Group's operations in Romania by Greek utility Public Power Corporation (PPC), the only mega deal in the first half of 2023.

Strategic investors continued to dominate the Romanian M&A market, achieving a 93% market share, the highest since the first half of 2019, after closing 115 deals.

Domestic transactions accounted for 53 deals or 43% of the total, while foreign investor appetite rose by an annual 17% to 62 deals, accounting for half of the total deal volume, which is aligned with historical patterns.

The most active sectors by deal volume were real estate, hospitality and construction with 23 transactions, power and utilities with 21, consumer products and retail with 20, followed by health and technology, with 11 deals each.

The first half of 2024 saw only two transactions with a disclosed value over $100 million, down from five a year earlier.

In terms of country of origin, the most active investors came from the U.S., solidifying a historical trend after closing ten deals. Austria and Germany also made it to the podium with eight and seven deals, respectively. France and Poland followed with four deals each, while Italian and Dutch investors were responsible for three deals each.

The largest deal recorded in the first half of 2024 was Banca Transilvania's $375 million acquisition of OTP Bank’s operations in Romania. The runner-up was Czech real estate developer CTP's $184 million purchase of five light-industrial parks from London-based peer Globalworth. Third was Premier Energy Group's $94 million takeover of the 80 MW Mihai Viteazu wind farm from Spain-based renewable energy company Iberdrola.

No deal values were disclosed for 79% of the transactions announced in the first half of 2024, compared to an average of 65% observed disclosures since 2018.

($=0.9237 euro)