The analyst assigned by Goldman Sachs to cover Romania is Andrew Matheny, who will review the performance of the country’s economy in reports.
Goldman Sachs was involved in the listing of state-owned natural gas producer Romgaz (SNG.RO), on the Bucharest and London markets, along with Raiffeisen Capital&Investment, Erste and BCR. It also competed for the other two public offerings conducted by state-run gas transmission company Transgaz (TGN.RO) and nuclear power producer Nuclearelectrica (SNN.RO) last year. It bid for the contract for the listing of hydropower producer Hidroelectrica, as well.
The listing of Romgaz, one of the most valuable companies in Romania and the most profitable state-owned business, was the first contract Goldman Sachs got in the country after about fifteen years. It had previously handled the privatization of telephone service provider Romtelecom in 1997-1998. It got an $8.4 million fee for assisting the government in the deal back then.
Goldman Sachs and other international banks were also behind the acquisition of Romania’s largest bank, BCR, by Austria’s Erste in 2006, the biggest privatization in the history of the country.
Goldman Sachs is now part of the new team of dealers of the Finance Ministry along with Merrill Lynch. Romania has become an increasingly important client for the major investment banks in the last few years, in its position as a constant issuer of euro and dollar denominated bonds, which allows it to borrow for increasingly long maturities at better and better yields.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)