The study shows that 81% of the acquisitions were carried out by strategic investors. Local transactions accounted for 41% of the total, while foreign investors carried out 56% of the transactions. Only 3% of the acquisitions were Romanian investments abroad.
By volume, the most active sector in Romania was the industrial sector.
The most active investors were Germany, with 12 transactions, France, with 7 transactions and Poland, with 5 transactions.
“The year 2016 triggered important transactions in Romania and in the region, showing a higher and higher level of confidence from global investors. The two big trans-border transactions alone, namely the sale of SABMiller Romania to Asahi and the sale of the majority stake in KMG International (Rompetrol in Romania) to CEFC China Energy, exceeded EUR1 billion on the local market. In 2017, the financial sector will consolidate, the consumer goods sector will continue to be active, while the number of transactions in technology will increase,” said Florin Vasilica, Leader of Transaction Advisory Services, EY Romania.
In the CSE region, the largest transaction occurred in the food and beverages sector, where Japanese group Asahi bought a group of Eastern-European beer brands for EUR7.8 billion.
The total value of transactions in CSE region rose 10.7% on the year in 2016, to $47.7 billion.
In terms of transactions volume, the most active sector for Poland, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Turkey was IT, which attracted 189 transactions.