The value of Romania's merger and acquisition market (M&A market), including transactions where the financial terms were disclosed by the two parties, shrank to EUR 1.9 billion in 2018.

The total market, including the estimated value of the deals where the terms were not disclosed, decreased in 2018 to EUR 3.8-4.3 billion, below the value estimated for 2017.

"We witnessed a slight decrease in the M&A activity in 2018, after 2017 was an atypical year with a record value of transactions with values between EUR 100 and 500 million. In spite of this evolution, the market remains at a robust level, in line with the economic growth," explained Ioana Filipescu, Corporate Finance Partner Deloitte Romania.

In 2018, there were 14 transactions with a value of over EUR 100 million. The total number of transactions considered by Deloitte (the transactions with a value of EUR 5 million or more) was 96. The average value of transactions with reported value reached EUR 50 million.

Among the largest deals there was the acquisition of a 7.5% stake in the Romanian startup UiPath, specializing in the development of solutions for the automation of internal processes with the help of robotics, by a consortium of investors headed by Sequoia Capital, which led the company to an implied value of EUR 2.6 billion (the value of the deal was EUR 194 million). This was the second time UiPath rose capital, six months after the first round that was worth EUR 124 million.

editor@romania-insider.com

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