Thus, the M&A market in Romania went against the current in 2022, growing at a time when Europe and the whole world were announcing significant declines. In 2023, however, the local market seems to be in sync with the global one.
“After the post-pandemic wave of transactional activity and after the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine, (…) the high interest rate and the unfavorable economic situation at continental and global level were finally felt in the volume and, especially, in the value of transactions recorded in the first part of this year,” says Horea Popescu, head of the corporate M&A practice for Central and Eastern Europe of CMS law firm and managing partner of CMS Romania.
In the region that includes Romania, the M&A market shrank by 25% in volume in the first half of 2023, twice as fast in Europe as a whole. In terms of value, the decline in the Central and Eastern European market was even worse, 40%. However, the decline in the entire Europe was 47%.
The region saw a total of EUR9.5 billion in deals in the first half, according to the 2024 European M&A Outlook published by CMS in association with financial data firm Mergermarket. There are no details on the value of the M&A market in each individual country.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)