Romania's M&A market falls 26% y/y in volume, slightly up in value in Q1 - PwC

Romania's mergers and acquisitions (M&A) market in the first quarter of 2021 contracted by 26% year-on-year in terms of number of transactions but was slightly higher in terms of value, global consultancy PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) said on Monday.

Forty-two M&A deals worth 600 million euro ($718.5 million) were concluded in the first quarter of the year amid growing investor optimism and adaptation of investment strategies to the new pandemic reality, PwC said in a press release.

The average transaction value increased 30% on an annual bsis in the period under review.

Most transactions involved strategic investors, as their number remained similar to the one recorded in the first quarter of the previous year. The number of transactions carried out by financial investors was down by half as compared to the same period of 2020.

Going forward, an increase in investment funds' activity is expected, given both the level of available capital and the need to restructure portfolios in order to capitalise on new economic developments, PwC Romania M&A department leader George Ureche said.

The most dynamic sectors in the first quarter of 2021 were IT&C, real estate and private healthcare. Due to new state-supported financial programmes for investment in renewable energy projects, this sector too was popular among investors.

In private healthcare, AmerisourceBergen Corp took over drugs distributor Alliance Healthcare Businesses' regional operations, including in Romania, in a transaction worth a total 5.5 billion euro. At the same time, Romanian healthcare services provider MedLife group continued its strategy to expand into the local market by taking over a 60% stake in local peer Medica Sibiu.

In the IT&C market, one of the most important deals was the takeover of Ropeco Bucharest by Romanian Business Consult, which aims to consolidate its position on the electronic payments market. US-based digital transformation and product development services firm Orion Innovation acquired Tellence Technologies and another US-based company, ThoughtWorks, bought software development and consulting services firm Gemini Solutions.

In the renewable energy sector, Enel Green Power Romania bought a 1,000 MW wind and solar energy project from Monsson Group.

In banking, Credit Agricole announced at the beginning of the year that it has signed an agreement to sell its Romanian subsidiary to Vista Bank Romania.

London-headquartered PwC is a multinational professional services network which has been present in Romania since 1991.

($ = 0.835 euro)

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