The mergers and acquisitions (M&A) market in Romania recorded 198 transactions in the first nine months of 2024, marking an increase of 8.2% compared to the same period last year (183 transactions), according to an EY release.

The estimated value of the transactions increased by 22.3%, reaching 5.2 billion US dollars, compared to 4.2 billion US dollars in the similar period of 2023, being largely supported by the robust activity in the Energy and Utilities sector.

According to EY, M&A activity in Romania continues to benefit from positive factors, such as strong GDP growth, higher real disposable incomes that stimulate private consumption, lower inflation and significant EU-funded investments in public infrastructure.

The first five most active sectors according to the volume of transactions in the first nine months of the year were Real Estate, Hospitality & Construction (35 transactions), historically one of the top sectors, Energy and Utilities (32 transactions), Consumer Products & Retail (28 transactions), Technology (19 transactions), followed by the Health sector, with 16 transactions. The Energy and Utilities sector recorded the highest number of transactions for this period from 2018 onwards, doubling (+113%) compared to the first nine months of 2023. This further underlines Romania’s strong position as an attractive investment destination in renewable energy, the quoted source mentions.

Regarding the country of origin, the most active investors were from the USA (15 transactions), which maintained its position as the top investor, followed by Austria (10 transactions), Germany (9 transactions), France (7 transactions) ), Poland and the Netherlands, each registering 6 transactions.

AGERPRES