Romania’s mergers and acquisitions (M&A) market increased by 6.1% y/y in value terms to $7.1bn, while the number of deals decreased by 6.2% y/y to 241 deals, according to estimates published by consultancy firm EY. Two large deals accounted for 38% of the total market.

Globally, the market remained on a downward path and hit a new minimum for the past decade, driven by the still high financing cost.

The acquisition of Profi Rom Food by Ahold Delhaize, a significant player in the global food retail market, from the private equity fund Mid Europa Partners for the sum of $1.4bn was the largest M&A deal in Romania last year

It was closely followed by the acquisition of Enel Romania by the Greek energy group Public Power Corporation, for $1.3bn

The acquisition of Alpha Bank Romania by Unicredit for $319mn was the third-largest deal. Mitiska REIM sold 25 commercial parks to M Core Property HQ for $236mn, one of the largest transactions ever recorded in the local commercial real estate sector. Grupo Bimbo, a food company from Mexico, acquired Vel Pitar for $210mn.

Strategic investors kept their dominant role in the Romanian M&A market, accounting for 88% of deal volume (number of deals) in 2023.

Domestic deals saw a marginal increase in number to 119 (compared to 116 in 2022), while the volume of transactions carried out by foreign investors (inbound) decreased by 13.9% year-on-year, to a total of 105.

Although the number of outbound transactions decreased to 11, compared to 14 in 2022, it remains strong from a historical perspective and reflects the increased appetite of Romanian investors to carry out cross-border transactions.