Analysis: Romania is among the most active mergers and acquisitions markets in Central and Eastern Europe

The mergers and acquisitions (M&A) market in Romania slightly decreased in volume in 2023 compared to the previous year, but maintained its value, according to an analysis conducted by Deloitte Romania. The number of transactions with values over 5 million euros analyzed by Deloitte Romania was 130 last year, compared to 157 in 2022, when the local market reached a record level. The estimated total value of the market ranged between 6.5 and 7.2 billion euros, out of which 4.9 billion euros represented transactions with publicly communicated values. For comparison, the market value in 2022 was 6.5-7.5 billion euros.

This level of activity places Romania second among the most active markets in Central and Eastern Europe, according to Mergermarket data analyzed by Deloitte Romania. Thus, Romania’s share in the total number of transactions recorded in the region increased from 13% in 2019, when our country was surpassed by Poland (37%) and the Czech Republic (21%), to 15% in 2023, when our country was surpassed only by Poland (44%) and was followed by the Czech Republic (13%) and Hungary (8%).

“When analyzing the most active M&A markets in Central and Eastern Europe over the last years, we notice that they evolve in similar directions and paces. However, it is noteworthy that, despite the fact that last year was marked by a contraction in activity both globally and regionally, as well as locally, Romania recorded the smallest decline in the region in the number of transactions, 17%, according to an analysis conducted by Deloitte based on Mergermarket data. By comparison, the average decline in Central and Eastern Europe was 20%, with the Czech Republic experiencing the most significant decrease in the number of transactions, 22%. It is also noteworthy that, despite seeing this volume decrease, the market value in Romania remained almost constant, thanks to the two major transactions in 2023 – the acquisition of Enel by Public Power Corporation and of Profi Rom Food by Ahold Delhaize. For 2024, we hope to see growth both in terms of market volume and value in Romania compared to previous years, following the upward trend observed in the analysis of the last five years. Additionally, we would be pleased to see as many transactions as possible where the actors are exclusively local players,” stated Radu Dumitrescu, Financial Advisory Partner-in-Charge, Deloitte Romania.

Excluding mega-deals, which exceed 500 million euros, the average value of a transaction was 25 million euros in 2023.

The sectors with the highest number of transactions in Romania in 2023 were real estate (28%), energy (15%), consumer products and technology (11% each). However, in terms of value, the energy sector contributed 35% to the total market, followed by retail and distribution (21%), real estate (14%), financial services and consumer products (8% each).

Among the types of investors active in the Romanian M&A market in 2023, strategic investors continued to dominate, accounting for 87% of the total number of transactions. Strategic investors from Romania were involved in 29% of the total number of transactions recorded in the local market in 2023. Among foreign strategic investors, those from Greece invested the most significant amounts (35% of the market value), followed by the Dutch (25%) and Italians (7%). In terms of the number of transactions in which they were involved, investors from Poland also stand out (8% of the local market volume in 2023), as well as those from the USA (7%) and Austria (6%).