The mergers and acquisitions market in Romania went down by 57 percent in the first half of the year, to USD 318 million, according to a recent report from Ernst&Young. Cross-border deals involving Romanian companies, which totalled EUR 901 million, have not been included in the calculation, which would have triggered a higher M&A value in Romania, according to E&Y.

There were 58 deals closed in Romania in the first half of the year, compared to 94 deals in the first six months of 2010. Strategic investors continued to dominate the market, but the share of financial investors grew to 36 percent of total deal – compared to 28 percent in H1 2010.

Domestic investors dominated the market, covering 62 percent of the reported deals. The real estate sector was the most attractive by number of deals, with 10 deals in the first six months. Other leading sectors included Manufacturing, energy and mining- 9 deals, and media and telecom, with 7 deals. The largest Romanian IPO was also recorded during this period, the Proprietatea Fund listing in January 2011 on the Bucharest Stock Exchange. Its capitalization reached USD 2.5 billion at the beginning of July, according to the report.

The largest deals in the first half of this year were the USD 29 million Mediterranean Car Agency – Auto Italia deal, the CEZ Romania – TMK Hydroenergy Power – some USD 28 million, and the two USD 14 mln deals involving Bluehouse Capital's purchase of Praktiker store in Craiova and Astoria Center.

The largest cross-border deals, where Romania was one of the target countries, were Fresenius Medical Care, which bought Euromedic International Dialysis Center, a USD 693 million deal, followed by CHS Inc which bought Agri Point Limited, a deal of USD 64 million.

M&As in Central and South – Eastern Europe reached USD 28.6 billion, with Poland, Turkey and Hungary being the most active markets. In total, 597 deals were recorded on the 10 analyzed markets.

editor@romania-insider.com

(photo source: Sxc.hu)