The businesses they sold operate in various fields such as medical services, fast-moving consumer goods, industrial manufacturing and retail. There were ten deals worth EUR250 million to EUR300 million together in which some of the most powerful local entrepreneurs relinquished control of their businesses in 2016.
“Several factors may be behind the decision of a local entrepreneur to sell their business. It is obvious that this is a good time on the market after the crisis froze everything and dragged expectations down,” says economic analyst Aurelian Dochia.
“Still, one of the factors may be that the entrepreneur grew the business to the highest level they could handle. They may want to start another business or may have started with the idea of selling in mind. We are also talking about entrepreneurs who have no successors here.”
The Romanian entrepreneurs’ decision to sell met with investor appetite, as investors are looking for acquisition targets in a time of excess liquidity and cheap money. Moreover, Romania has the advantage of being a macroeconomically and geopolitically stable country.
“I think the main reason for the increase in the number of deals is the better macroeconomic predictability. It is only natural that it would also show in the number of deals. Moreover, I think this is only the beginning,” says Laurentiu Ispir, managing director of investment firm Oresa Ventures.
Romania returned to the investors’’ radar last year for the first time after 2008. The local market will remain interesting for mergers and acquisitions in the coming years. The local market saw 119 M&A deals worth EUR3.1 billion last year, according to an annual report of Euromoney.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)