Invesco bought into Romgaz via two small business investment funds, European Small Company and International Small Company. Although the gas producer is the second largest local company on the Bucharest Stock Exchange, with a capitalization of 13.6 billion lei (EUR3 billion), the low liquidity of its shares and of the local stock market made Invesco return to this market with its small company funds.
“I believe Romgaz is an interesting opportunity and a good example of how we’re not afraid to go off the beaten path when the EQV (earnings, quality and valuations i.e.) characteristics are right for us,” says Jason Holzer, chartered financial analyst and senior portfolio manager with Invesco, on the corporate blog.
Invesco had previously invested in Romanian listed companies at the end of the nineties. It held stakes in chocolate producer Kandia Excelent and in Laminorul Focsani plant, both of which delisted in 1998.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)