Romania's M&A market value falls to 2.3 bln euro in 2021 - Deloitte

Taking into account transactions with a still undisclosed value, the M&A market could reach an estimated 4 billion - 4.4 billion euro in 2021, up from an estimated 3.9 billion - 4.1 billion euro in 2020, Deloitte said in a press release.

"In Romania, 2021 and 2020 were very good years for the mergers and acquisitions market, and our analysis suggests that the positive momentum will continue, so we anticipate unprecedented activity in next years," Deloitte Romania corporate finance director Iulia Bratu said.

In total, 137 transactions were announced in 2021, up from 93 in the previous year, including those whose value was not officially disclosed. Deloitte's analysis did not take into account transactions worth less than 5 million euro each.

The most active sectors by volume of transactions were real estate including construction, technology, energy and industry. Together, they generated 76 transactions. In terms of transaction value, the most significant sector was real estate, followed by energy, retail and distribution.

The largest transaction in 2021 was the acquisition of Exxon Mobil's 50% stake in the Black Sea offshore project Neptun Deep by Romanian natural gas producer Romgaz for a reported value of 920 million euro.

Among the biggest deals of 2021 are also the acquisition of MaxBet Romania by London-based Novalpina Capital for an estimated of 250 million euro.

Spanish on-demand delivery Glovo's acquisition of Delivery Hero's operations in the Balkan region for a reported value of 170 million euro and Hungarian private equity fund Adventum's purchase of Hermes Business Campus from Atenor for an estimated 150 million euro arewere also on the top deals list. Another large transaction was the acquisition by Romanian majority state-owned hydro power producer Hidroelectrica acquisition of the 108 MW Crucea wind farm located in Constanta county from German energy group STEAG for an estimated 130 million euro, Deloitte said.

($=0.885 euro)